


To Get Back     Home

by YoonminTrash68



Category: Kpop - Fandom, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate reality au, Angst, Badass Yoongi, Elemental Power AU, Fairy AU, Fluff, HOSEOK IS A KING, M/M, Namjin is an actual married couple, Portal AU, Sope Bromance, Vmin bromance, Vmin is my brotp, Werewolf AU, Yoonmin angst, Yoonmin fluff, Yoonseok bromance, Yoonseok is my brotp, bangtan - Freeform, bts - Freeform, chimchim - Freeform, taekook angst, taekook fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-05-01 10:23:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14518410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoonminTrash68/pseuds/YoonminTrash68
Summary: Taehyung and Jimin have been friends ever since they could remember and even now they find themselves climbing trees, deep in the forest, like children until Jimin hears a loud crack and descends the tree to find his friend gone without a trace...





	1. The Forest from Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jimin and Taehyung have been playing in this forest since they were young, but today there’s something different, because isn’t this how all stories start?

     The earliest months of spring is the time everything thrives. Plants that had died in the winter begin to emerge between the patches of melting snow, weak but radiant waves of sunlight weaves through the foliage above the river that strives to flow again. Birds return to their homes, other animals come out of their shelters. It would all make a peaceful environment if it weren’t for two trespassers. One towered almost half a head above the other. The smaller wore apricot hair and a smile that pulled his eyes into crescents. The rips in his acid washed jeans at the knee were on purpose, while the ones scattered up his thighs were courtesy of previous adventures. His white v-neck fit gently around his waist and his ears were decorated with silver earrings, his brown combat boots kept his grip on the slightly slippery surface of the wet grass and dirt while he followed in cheerful pursuit of his friend.

     “Come on Chim! We’re almost there!!” The taller called. Jimin forced himself into a second wind as he leapt over a fallen tree trunk. He chased the brunette through a thick of trees and bushes, then haphazardly across a tree that had fallen over a mellow river, only a few feet below. Suddenly the taller had stopped and turned to him with a boxy grin. The green highlights in his bangs were shiny in the rays of sun, that broke through the leave of a massive oak tree. The branches of the oak tree stretched out to touch other trees that grew farther away, due to the tree’s expanding roots. The taller also had ears decorated with silver earrings, his black jeans had rips in the thighs and knees, but every rip was on purpose in his case. His plaid shirt had different color schemes on different sections of his shirt that lay open to reveal a white t-shirt beneath.

     “Tae, I need to breathe.” Jimin slowed down to a trot, and then to a halt before the taller.

     “Breathe at the top, the clouds look like you can reach out and touch them from up there.” Taehyung pointed to the top of the tree, as if he could see it through all the branches obstructing his view. Jimin followed his hand with his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

     “ _Please_ don’t make me do this,” Jimin gave the taller a pitiful look but Taehyung simply flashed another boxy smile as he gained a running start. Both the boys were skilled in climbing trees since they’ve been doing this for so many years together and Taehyung knew Jimin too well to take his complaints to heart.

     He jumped up and wrapped his arms around a low hanging branch, then with a continuous momentum he swung up onto the branch, and began to weave through the stronger branches to reach the top. Jimin let out a deep breath that turned into another bright smile before following suit. Within just moments they had reached the top and earned a clear view of the beautiful sunrise.

     “Do we have that Phycology lecture tonight?” Taehyung asked calmly. He pushed his back against a thick branch, his foot against another to steady himself, as he gazed at the horizon.

     “No it’s Tuesday, I have dance and you have-”

     “Hapkido, right. You wanna come over and play overwatch after?” Taehyung offered.

     “My mother wants me to come home for the weekend, it’s been hard for her to let me live out here alone with my wild friend.” Jimin laughed lightly. He had wrapped his legs around a tree branch that he hugged with his upper body as well, while his eyes rested on the purplish clouds. “I wonder if she’d be mad if I brought you...”

     “Hell no, just come over when you get back.” Taehyung was always quite stubborn but in a good-natured way.

     “You making ramen?” Jimin quirked a brow.

     “Let’s just eat cereal again.” Taehyung let out a bright laughter that echoed through the skies, followed by the echo of Jimin’s own laugh.

     “Good, I think I chipped a tooth last time,” He smiled at his taller friend.

     “Those were cookies!! I can make ramen just fine…” Taehyung pouted.

     “You can _order_ ramen just fine.” Jimin laughed again.

     “Last time I try and make you something nice for your birthday…” The taller crossed his arms, and allowed his pouting to grow even more petulant, which aroused another burst of laughter from Jimin.

     “What time is it, do you think we’ll be late again?” He asked once he had sobered up. Taehyung whipped out his phone, and Jimin knew the answer simply from watching his eyes widen. “Let’s go,” He began to make his decent.

     “First one down’s a broken arm!” Taehyung called and he swung from branch to branch skillfully as if he were a monkey.

     Jimin took his time in placing his feet on each branch and evaluating if the branch could withstand his weight. He usually took twice the time it took Taehyung to climb down from the trees they would climb, but Jimin had never broken a bone and Taehyung couldn’t say the same. As he reached the tip of his toe down to test a new candidate to hold his weight he heard something completely unfamiliar. A loud crack unlike any natural explanation, this didn’t sound like a branch breaking, a tree falling, Taehyung falling, it didn’t even sound like pirate cannons.

     Jimin was frozen to the spot.

     “Tae??” He called. No response. His pulse quickened and his adrenaline began to rise. “Taehyung??” He raised his shaky voice much louder to his own surprise but yet there was still no answer.

     He didn’t want to move, he didn’t want to see if his friend was seriously hurt but he had to, he was the only one that could help, so no matter what had happened to his friend he was going to help. Jimin twisted throughout the branches of the tree, frantic yet fluid, and before he could register the shock running up through his legs, he had landed on the grass and ran around the base of the tree to find his friend.

     There was no one, not a trace.

     “Taehyung??” He called again before hearing a rustle in the bushes behind him. He turned on his heel and blindly chased it. If this was a prank, Jimin would kill him for this. He’s scared out of his wits, he just wants his friend to be ok, what if he’s chasing a squirrel? What if his friend vanished into thin air, he couldn’t have, maybe it was a hunter’s trap, maybe he should go back and look more thoroughly. Jimin was ripped from his thought and forced to slide to a stop before he ran into whatever the hell was in front of him. It was a oval, maybe 6 feet tall, stark white until the color reached the borders where it glowed a multitude of colors, he would call it a rainbow effect but he didn’t recognize some of the colors. He stares without blinking, this can’t be the answer, what is this? He knelt down without taking his eyes off the mysterious oval that hovered over the grass, the grass seemed to be slightly brighter and healthier in its presence, he took a small pebble in his hand and straightened up, chancing a blink as he stepped back. He then willed himself to toss the pebble into the oval, and with a familiar crack, the foreign object vanishes.

     Jimin stumbled backward until he tripped over his own feet and fell onto his back. He knew it wasn’t the impact that knocked the breath out of his lungs, it was the realization. He understood now, this is what happened to his friend, but he didn’t know what happened to Taehyung or the pebble after they had been taken by it. He sat there breathing erratically, he tried to bring his thoughts into order. He only had a moment before something snapped him back to reality… a rustle in the bushes. He didn’t realize that he had stood up so fast and stumbled into a sprint until he felt a dizziness linger in the front of his temples. He ignored it. The only thing that mattered now was following this creature, maybe it was only a light change in the wind. He leapt over a root that protruded out of the ground and he slid to a stop. It was back. The mysterious oval, maybe a portal.

     He knew he only had one choice, the thought of it constricted the air in his lungs and made his hands clammy, cold sweat poured from his brow. Nevertheless he stepped closer, he didn’t want a stray insect or maybe a bird who had lost its sanity to steal his chance before he could work up the courage. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He just had to do it, don’t think about it, just go, run.


	2. The Hostile Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jimin enters the portal to see a forest all to similar to his own, but the creatures lurking in the bushes serve as a rude awakening to this new reality.

    He just had to do it, don’t think about it, just go, run. He took off and refused to listen to every single cell in his body willing him to stop, he kept running and running… and running.

    The oval was gone, he was in the forest, but he knew his forest, _this_ wasn’t it.

    “Taehyung??” His voice was hoarse from lack of proper breathing or hydration. He assumed that the floating oval was a portal now. Maybe this reality wasn’t very different from his own considering his surroundings. The foliage from the trees was thicker while the trees were much taller, not very climbable for Jimin, who was too small to reach even the lowest branches. He rested his hands in his pockets and walked with hesitation slowing his pace. He turned slowly as he walked in no specific direction, still calling out for his friend periodically. His eyes became droopy with each heavy step, his voice was still met with silence. He was so worried, how long had Taehyung been here without him? Is he ok? Is he still alive?

    “Taehyung!!!” Jimin cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice but there was still no answer, only a quiet rustle in the bushes behind him. Jimin turned on his heel in anticipation for another pursuit but he quickly realized that the tables had turned.

    His eyes fell on four huge men with large furry, almost wolf-like ears protruding from atop of their heads. He couldn’t register anything more than the scars of their faces before he was forced to sprint in the opposite direction. Luckily he had experience with being chased through an unfamiliar forest, due to his awkward encounters with hunters in the forest back home.

    Taehyung always complained about the hunters running after them to get them off their property. Then again, they _were_ trespassing.

    Somehow Jimin figured these creatures wouldn’t pull out a shotgun on him like he had experienced before.

    They were already gaining on him slowly but surely, Jimin had to focus on the path ahead instead of his pursuers now. He didn’t even mean to be trespassing this time but he didn’t think the huge creatures would allow him to explain, so he ran skillfully across a log that had fallen over a tall ravine, he barely even realized could’ve killed him if he slipped. He prayed that his pursuers didn’t have as much balance. They did.

    Once they had crossed the ravine, the leading hunter took out a short rope and stopped in his tracks to get a proper evaluation of the distance between himself and Jimin. He then threw the rope that began to glow as it glided through the air, and wrapped itself around the ankles of his prey. Jimin tumbled to the ground and looked down to see what had stopped him, he quickly, frantically, tried to free his ankles from the trap.

    His lungs began to tighten until he could feel the lack of oxygen in his fingers and toes, maybe even in his brain. He rolled onto his back and locked eyes with one of his pursuers, following not far behind, and now effortlessly closing the distance between them. Jimin tried to loosen the ropes so he could just slip one foot out and run free, maybe he could rip the rope open with pure leg strength. He’s always had quite strong legs. Nothing worked, there wasn’t enough time, maybe if his hands weren’t shaking he could free himself. A rustle in the leaves to his right drew the attention of his pursuers and himself.

    Finally the shift in the wind was back. Maybe the shift in the wind was on his side.

    He quickly found that it was not the wind. By the time the first man had the chance to turn and face the intruder, it was too late. He was tackled to the ground and his neck was ripped open by the fangs of the largest wolf Jimin had ever seen. The pure sight of the beast was enough to make the boy faint but somehow he stayed conscious. He regretted staying conscious. Jimin was forced to watch the beast rip through the chest of his second victim  before he could come to his senses and start crawling away, as best as he could manage, with both of his feet bound together and useless. He crawled around the nearest tree and hid himself on the other side bringing his knees to his chest and his back to the trunk. He tried to slow his breathing or at least breath quietly but before he knew it, the blood curdling screams stopped.

    It was completely silent, all Jimin could hear was his own breathing, that wasn’t good.

    Jimin held his breath, waiting to hear huge footsteps  but yet he heard nothing.

    He wasn’t stupid, so he wasn’t going to peek around the trunk to check if the huge wolf had left. He was perfectly content with sitting here for hours until he knew there was no way the beast would have stuck around for this long... but that would mean Taehyung would still be alone... who knows where he is now, let alone what he could get himself into in the hours that Jimin spent cowering behind a tree. Jimin needed to find his friend, but he needed to survive long enough to get to him. A low growl from just behind his ear broke him out of his inner turmoil.

 _Oh shit._ He suddenly fell onto his side and began to frantically back away from the huge beast, that stayed just inches from his neck. Cold, dark eyes bore into his skin. He couldn’t help the small squeak that rose from his lips when he fell or his heart coming to a complete halt when he locked eyes with the huge wolf. There was a fire behind the beasts eyes, a fire Jimin expected to be one of hunger, but he couldn’t identify it. Jimin had stopped backing away when he locked eyes with the beast, he only realized that he stopped moving when the beast stood over him. Long claws, caked with blood, on either side of his waist. Jimin didn’t understand why the beast didn’t rip him apart instantly like the others but he decided that he should attempt to reason with the beast to save his own life.   
    “I- I’m s-“ _so sorry this was all an accident_ “I h- I-“ _have no clue where I am or how I got here_ “I just-“ _oh wow a whole complete word, I’m sure the huge monster is impressed. I just want to find Taehyung and go home_. “P- please don’t...” he inhaled sharply only to have his nostrils stung by the smell of blood. His resolve broke, he was building it up so well too, he just got out two words this time. Maybe if the growl didn’t become slightly lower and quieter, and a drop of blood from the beast’s fangs didn’t fall onto his chest, he could’ve held back his tears of hopelessness. Maybe getting your neck ripped open is a quick way to die, it’s obviously gonna be painful but maybe it could be quick... what if Taehyung has already been eaten, what if this is the beast that has already killed his friend. Jimin choked back a sob and attempted to speak again but there was no spare air in his lungs to carry his words. This was it. Death by a monstrous wolf. As if he had heard his cue in Jimin’s mind, the wolf knelt his head down to his neck. Jimin shut his eyes tightly and rolled onto his side to grab the grass and pull himself away, but a hand clasped down over his upper arm, holding him still. Jimin was now shaking, keeping his eyes sealed shut. _What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck?!?!_ _This is a human hand, where did this human hand come from?? Did one of my pursuers survive??_ Cold breath on the side of his neck broke him out of his thoughts. The owner of this human hand was now sitting atop of him and smelling his neck... _what the fuck?!_ Jimin visibly tensed when he heard the low, gruff, almost breathy voice.   
    “Impossible,” he whispers almost as if Jimin wasn’t meant to hear it. He feels the hand on his arm pull him until he laid on his back again, Jimin raises both his fists just in case he needs to punch this guy, but two pale hands wrap around his wrists and push them back until they lay beside his ears. His breath catches in his throat when he locks eyes with the boy atop of him. He looked almost as young as Jimin, his mint green hair looked almost soft in its messy, unkempt state. Finally Jimin’s eyes were drawn to a pair of ears... wolf ears, on the boy’s head... _there’s no way_. The boy scans Jimin’s face almost vacantly before bowing down to his neck again. Jimin shifted uncomfortably as he felt the cold breathe move from his neck, to his chest, to just under his chin. He felt the tip of the boy’s nose graze his chin has he lifted his head up again. Confusion knitting the boy’s brows into a frown. “You haven’t been marked... not by anyone...” he finally acts as if he were addressing Jimin.  
    “... marked?” Jimin was impressed with the little effort it took to get the small squeak of a word off his lips.  
    “You’re not from here,” Jimin knew this was probably a question but it sounded more like a statement.  
    “N-“ Jimin hated himself for stuttering again “no... I’m not” _I’m pretty sure I’m from another dimension and I’d really like to say this aloud so maybe you’ll help me find my friend and get home but my brain and my body don’t seem to be working right now. Also you’re scary as hell._ He just wanted to get half the thoughts on his mind out of his mouth but all he could do was open his mouth to speak again then shut it halfheartedly. The boy atop of him didn’t seem to notice, he was thinking, almost pouting.   
    “You’ll come with me,” he finally said as he made to stand up. Jimin was in shock from his words so he didn’t even notice the claw that reached down to break the ropes from his ankles. Jimin just stared at the boy for a moment, a long moment. This moment must have been enough to wear down his patience, “or you could die quickly like them,” he added as he gestured to the bodies on the grass, blood still spilling from their wounds. Jimin let out a small squeak before scrambling to his feet and shying away slightly to keep a safe distance. As if there was such a thing. Once he had reached his feet, the other scanned over Jimin head to toe then turned to lead the way. Jimin wondered if he could run away while his back was turned, but a jet black wolf tail reminded him that he wouldn’t stand a chance. So reluctantly Jimin followed in complete silence, a silence the other seemed to be comfortable in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends, sorry these chapters are so short, I’ll be sure to update more often as soon as school lets out next week! The chapters will still be quite short, just cause that’s how the storyline will unfold best. Until school lets out I will update every Wednesday. Thank you again for taking an interest in my work <3


	3. Another Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taehyung entered the portal on a whim, a terribly misguided whim.

    He only touched the portal and he was sucked into another reality. Taehyung stumbled over his own feet when he stepped into the new realm. The grass wasn’t different from the terrain back home but the pure shock of what he was seeing made his knees significantly weaker. The trees, back home they were bright, healthy shades of green and brown with moss growing up the sides and roots popping out of the ground wherever they pleased. Here, they were burned to a stump, some were slightly taller than him, others he didn’t notice until he kicked them, moss was replaced with charred marks, there was no green as far as his eyes could see, there was only shades of grey, interrupted by the brown of the grass, even the sky was blocked by a blanket of clouds. 

    “What happened to you?” Taehyung approached a tree that stood slightly taller than him, he rested a hand on the dry bark of the tree as if he could comfort it this way. “Who could do this?” He looked around helplessly. He needed to help this forest grow back to its former glory… but he couldn’t get side tracked. This isn’t his home, Jimin was definitely worried sick right now, he needed to get back to his friend as soon as he could. But how? He needed to find another portal and get back home. 

    Why did he think this was a good idea? Why did he just touch a random, eerie, floating oval? Taehyung drew his attention from the tree and turned to scan his surroundings, he kept his back to the tree as his eyes wandered from the dead grass, to the dead trees, to the darkened sky. It was all so depressing to look at, he began to feel tears well up behind his eyes.  _ No please don’t cry, not here, not now.  _ Taehyung willed his tears back successfully, he was proud. Something wrapped around his arms and waist, it pulled his back into the dead tree. Taehyung pulled his feet up against the tree in an attempt to push himself away but whatever it was, it was stronger, and it grew hotter. Taehyung looked down sharply to see chains wrapped around his chest several times and it started to grow a warm shade of yellow. It was heating up against his clothes. He bit back a scream but it tore its way past him lips as the chains shifted from yellow to orange. He tried to pull away from the chains but the dead tree stopped him and it was all he could do not to cry. Never mind, he had every right to let a tear sneak past his defenses, his chest and arms where being slowly roasted and suffocated and he couldn’t move, he was terrified and in immense pain. The smell of burning clothes stung his nostrils and he was slightly thankful the chains hadn’t reached his skin yet. This didn’t last for long. Another pained cry tore past Taehyung’s lips when he felt the red hot metal touch his bare skin. He attempted to open his eyes but all he could see was splotches of colors… and four huge human-like silhouettes. He couldn’t make out much of them before he passed out and his head fell limp. Just before he fell completely unconscious, he felt the chains loosen and break away, replaced by two massive arms. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, this chapter is hella short BECAUSE the storyline won’t flow properly without this chapter being just Taehyung entering the portal. SO I’ll double post today and now that school is finally out (HELL FUCKIN YEAHHHHHHHH) I will be updating on Wednesday AND Sundays or Saturdays, I dunno, I haven’t decided for sure. Hope you enjoyed!!


	4. The Werewolf Kingdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jimin is guided, by the wolf boy, to the very heart of the Werewolf Kingdom

    Jimin and the wolf boy walked through the forest in a direction Jimin didn’t recognize, but he could tell the wolf boy had memorized. They weaved through trees and crossed a chasm or two.

    Jimin kept his eyes peeled for another portal, so maybe he could just make a run for it, the shift in the wind had yet to make an appearance.

    The wolf boy didn’t pay much attention to him, aside from glancing back to make sure he was still following. His eyes lingered for longer each time, making Jimin squirm uncomfortably under his piercing gaze. They reached an especially long chasm, where a rope bridge connected the land where they stood to the other side. The rope bridge looked old, but there weren’t any broken boards that Jimin could see from here, so he wasn’t too nervous. The wolf boy turned to him again, Jimin didn’t noticed his own small step back before he met the other’s gaze.

    “Don’t look down,” The wolf boy said gruffly before grabbing Jimin’s hand and pulling him toward the rope bridge. Jimin was taken aback by this, and ended up stumbling over his own feet, before regaining his balance and refocusing his eyes on the wolf boy. He had already turned around to see Jimin’s complexion turning bright red.

    “... I’m sorry, I-”

    “Are you afraid of heights?” The wolf boy interrupted almost gently. Jimin looked over to the shifty rope bridge then back to the wolf boy but his eyes avoided the other’s face and rested on the huge ears that pulled back, almost like an annoyed cat. “... Are you afraid of me?” His voice became quieter, almost shy, hurt even. Jimin’s eyes shifted to meet the other’s.

    He couldn’t bring himself to say no.

    “... I understand,” he took his hand back and turned his focus back to the rope bridge.

    Jimin felt the heat in his cheeks rise to his ears. He wanted to tell the wolf boy that he didn’t mean it but he didn’t even say anything, the wolf boy just read him… and he was right. Ever since he’d seen the terrible beasts ripping into each other he’s been petrified. He was usually a lot better at relaying his feelings, however he was never intimidated by his friends. After seeing what the werewolf could do, Jimin was absolutely terrified of saying the wrong thing and getting ripped open in mere seconds like his last victims.

    Jimin didn’t realize that he’d been standing there lost in thought until he awoke from his daze and his eyes found the wolf boy, who had already started towards the rope bridge. Jimin walked quickly to catch up and now followed just behind the fluffy, jet black tail. The tail waved slowly from side to side as the boy stepped carefully along the faulty bridge, the bridge creaked under each shift of weight.

    Jimin tried to look anywhere but down, his eyes roamed from the fog surrounding them, to the bridge ahead but he had to avert his eyes from a few broken boards ahead, his eyes shot down to the boards beneath his feet to check for faults. Seeing the black void, only interrupted by patches of fog, between the boards sent a chill up his spine. He averted his eyes to the two jet black, fluffy ears atop of the werewolf’s head. They were still pulled back like an annoyed or hurt cat, Jimin wondered if he had really hurt the boy’s feelings earlier, he didn’t know that he could hurt such a huge beast’s feelings so easily, accidentally too. He wondered if all werewolves were as sensitive and small as him- well they were much more similar in size when the wolf boy had assumed his half-breed state. At least he could relate to the beast a little more, this almost humanized him. Almost.

    Jimin was shocked out of his thoughts by a board that seemed to be missing, but when he looked down he saw that he had only misstepped, he brought his foot back onto the board that inevitably creaked, but Jimin had already learned to ignore that. That wasn’t too bad, just a small misstep and a rush of adrenaline. He returned his eyes back to the ears atop of the boy’s head, they stood straight up and faced him, Jimin looked down slightly to see the wolf boy’s face, inches from his own and staring. He looked more shocked than worried, Jimin wondered why. His eyes shifted to his hand which still held a handful of the back of the boy’s shirt. Now Jimin stared in shock, he didn’t even realize that he had reached out to grab the werewolf or that he was still holding onto him. He was still holding onto him. Jimin let go a little too quickly, the wolf boy’s focus flickered and hesitantly moved to his feet. Jimin wanted to say something, anything to convince the wolf boy that he wasn’t afraid of him, but the other had already begun to move on.

    “What’s your name?” Jimin found the words leaving his mouth before he could think about it a second time. And now for a second time, the wolf boy looked back at him with shock and something else Jimin couldn’t identify etched into his expression.

    “Yoongi- Min Yoongi.” His voice was low and slightly gruff from lack of use. He wasn’t very well spoken.

    “I’m Jimin,” he offered a shy nod, which was returned by the other before he hesitated and turned back to the path ahead. Jimin wasn’t sure if that helped but at least he knew the wolf boy’s name now. Min Yoongi.

    They fell back into an all too familiar silence. Jimin almost cried when his feet hit solid ground again but Yoongi seemed unfazed by the entire experience. The wolf boy continued towards another forest that seemed to settle as a wall stretching from as far as he could see right or left. There was a strange atmosphere radiating from the forest, Jimin almost thought it was magic. Yoongi looked back at Jimin once he had reached the border of the trees and waited for him until they stood side by side.

    “It’ll feel strange until we reach the other side. Hold onto me if you need to.” Yoongi didn’t take his eyes off the wall of trees. To anyone else he would’ve seemed cold in the way he talked, but somehow, Jimin understood.

    “Ok,” he said quietly and Yoongi glanced at him for a split second before continuing through the wall of trees. Jimin wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.

    Yoongi walked right through the trunk of a tree that let out a gentle ripple from his contact then swallowed him completely. He had done it so nonchalantly,

 _I guess it doesn’t hurt then._ Jimin thought to himself as he took a step back. _Maybe he can’t see me now, this could be my only chance to escape and find Taehyung… Surely that would hurt his feelings… he’ll forget about me by tomorrow, it’ll be fine. What if I anger him by leaving… he could easily hunt me down just like the other werewolves…_

    “It doesn’t hurt,” a voice brought him out of his inner turmoil. Yoongi has re-emerged from the surface that rippled once again. “It tingles a little bit though.” He added with an awkward shrug. Jimin looked from Yoongi to the wall of trees or whatever it was now. “Do you need to hold onto me?” Jimin now looked down to see a large, pale, outstretched hand. This was his chance, maybe by willingly taking his hand, Jimin could make Yoongi understand that he wasn’t scared of him, even though he was still intimidated. Jimin didn’t know why he felt such a strong need to prove to this werewolf that he wasn’t scared of him. Maybe it was the small pout that consistently graced the werewolf’s lips, maybe it was the urge to befriend the werewolf in case he needed protection. Whatever the case, Jimin nodded and placed his much smaller hand in the other’s. Yoongi attempted at a comforting smile before turning back to the fluid surface of trees, he led Jimin through the same tree trunk.

    The second his fingers touched the surface it felt like he had lost feeling of Yoongi’s hand around his own, it felt like his arm was falling asleep and the feeling travelled across his body as he moved through the fluid surface. It felt like he was surrounded by water but he wasn’t wet nor drowning, something kept pulling him forward, urging him to step one foot after the other. It was warm, now cold, and now he felt nothing. It felt like falling out of his bed during a dream, he was standing on grass again and the feeling of Yoongi’s hand around his own had returned. It didn’t last long, Yoongi pulled his hand away and into his pocket, mirroring the other hand. Jimin didn’t dwell on the matter for long this time, his attention was elsewhere.

    They had stepped into the outskirts of a bustling kingdom. Jimin could hear the ruckus of the streets and smell the food from here. The scenery was breathtaking, buildings were squished together, side by side to make a beautiful skyline and draw attention to the contrast in design from each building. He had already followed Yoongi into the city, keeping close to the werewolf’s side in hopes that no one would notice his lack of ears or tail. The city looked almost medieval but it functioned in a harmony that even Jimin’s city back home hadn’t mastered.

    Werewolves swiveled and moved about in a dance they all seemed to know. Some travelled in their true wolf form on all fours, others chose to stay in their half breed form. They communicated in many different languages, none that Jimin recognized. He tried to focus on just one conversation to see if he might understand.

    “Definitely not from here,” finally words he recognized.

    “Do you think he’s a sacrifice for the king?” The hair on the back of Jimin’s neck stood up. Maybe he misheard, maybe they’re not actually speaking in his native tongue.

    “If Min Yoongi is his escort, I think it’s pretty obvious.” Well there’s no questioning this now. They were talking about him, Yoongi was well known for something, and that something could very well be sacrificing humans to the king of the werewolves.

    He needed to get out of here now, but how? Obviously he stood out and wouldn’t make it far if he made a run for it now. He had to keep going, maybe a way to escape will present itself to him before he’s eaten.

    As if on cue, Yoongi guided him closer by the small of his back as they walked. Jimin looked to him in confusion but his gaze wasn’t met by the other. Jimin followed his eyes to another group of werewolves that whispered amongst themselves in a language foreign to him, it obviously was’t foreign to Yoongi who only responded with a glare that could shatter glass. The werewolves averted their gazes and silenced their voices. Yoongi then returned his suddenly stone cold glare to the path ahead. After seeing his terrifying glare from so close, Jimin decided to keep his mouth shut as well. Jimin was painfully aware of Yoongi’s hand still resting on the small of his back, gently guiding him to walk closer to Yoongi. He tried to focus on something else like the beautiful jewels in the window of the nearest shop, the smell of food that almost reminded him of home coming from a passing restaurant. He wanted to go back and just stand in the doorway, if only to just calm his nerves.

    It felt like so long ago when he ate ramen on his couch while playing Fallout 4 with Taehyung. He wanted to go back, he just wanted to see that his friend was ok.

    They passed many beautiful buildings filled with extravagant displays in the windows and captivating scents in the air, none like the scent from home. Jimin’s eyes wandered around with wonder and something like excitement gracing his features, he had almost forgotten about the possibility of being sacrificed to a King of Werewolves soon. He allowed Yoongi to guide him without paying much attention to where they were going until they had stopped. He look away from a raven perched atop one of the rooftops to see a royal carriage pulled by two jet black horses, everything about the carriage was black and sleek. The horse’s manes were straight and silk-like, alike to the exterior of the carriage with various embellishments still black and smooth. Yoongi nodded to the man who held the door open for them as he stepped inside and took his seat. Jimin followed suit, resisting every cell in his body screaming at him to run. He knew he’d have to endure this feeling until the right opportunity presented itself, he could only hope that they won’t kill him on the spot. Once he sat down next to Yoongi, the man at the door closed it delicately leaving Jimin to admire the interior of the carriage. It was completely different from the exterior, being that everything was now blood red, the only thing still silky black was the cushions on the seat.

    “I wonder what his favorite color is,” Jimin mumbled to himself, he thought he was the only one who heard him but he was proven wrong by a breathy chuckle from his left. Jimin turned his eyes away from his fingers that traced over blood red embellishments on the wall, and looked to Yoongi who wore a fond smile.

    “Actually it’s green,” His cheeks pulled into a gummy smile but his eyes still shied away from Jimin, and gazed at his own reflection in the smooth, clean, surface of the floor.

    “Do you know him?” Jimin watched Yoongi’s profile for any signs of a reaction. “The king,” Yoongi smiled again.

    “Since we were cubs,” He still watched his own reflection instead of Jimin. Seeing Yoongi like this calmed Jimin’s nerves but he was still anxious, he wanted to ask Yoongi about what he had heard earlier but he was scared of hearing the answer. “He’s gonna be intimidating when you meet him but he’ll warm up to you, I think he’ll like you.” Jimin knew his words were meant to comfort him, but the way the wolf boy had spoken still entertained the speculation that he could very well be dinner tonight.

     Jimin offered a small nod then looked out the window on his side. A massive, sleek, black gate was coming closer, Jimin couldn’t help the tight feeling in his chest, or stomach, or throat. The gates swung open to welcome them and Jimin felt anything but welcome in this moment. He spared a glance at Yoongi who looked out his own window but with a completely different expression. He seemed to be lost in thought, daydreaming.

    Jimin turned back to his own window and looked out to see an enormous castle, following the theme of the carriage, it was made from smooth black stone, the archer towers on either side had blood red canopies. Each window seemed to be made of broken glass, pieced back together by blood red lining. Jimin took note of where every guard stood or paced, each guard wore smooth silver armor that allowed their ears and tails to emerge from its protection. They all sported different weapons, some that Jimin didn’t even recognize.

    The carriage stopped, bringing Jimin to the verge of a panic attack, the door opened and Jimin looked to Yoongi as if waiting for permission to leave. Yoongi blinked vacantly for a moment then realized that Jimin wanted him to say something.

    He didn’t know what he was supposed to say… _get out._ No that would sound rude. _What the fuck do you want from me just go._ He wanted to say, but he settled for attempting to communicate through a nod, somehow Jimin took that as an answer to his unspoken question and made his way out of the carriage.

    The moment Jimin’s feet touched the paved road he felt the eyes of every werewolf in his proximity bearing into him. He didn’t look around at them anymore for fear of making eye contact, being pinned under their gazes made him feel small, he felt a prickling sensation down his spine. He wanted to go back into the carriage now, he even took a step back but a large hand returned to the small of his back and suddenly every single glare burning through his skin left him. Jimin knew who the hand belonged to already but he found himself growing ever the more curious, who is Min Yoongi? How did just his presence have so much power over these werewolves? What had he done to gain so much respect?

    Yoongi guided Jimin along the path and up the long and wide stairs with a guard on every other step.

    The blood red doors swung open before they even reached them, a massive, white wolf stood regally in the doorway. Jimin was shocked at the mere size of it, the beast bared his fangs, which were almost as white as his fur. Suddenly, with no more than a glance at Jimin, the beast began to sprint towards them, Jimin could only assume this was an act of hostility from the barbaric hunger in the beast’s eyes, and the way Yoongi’s hand tensed against the muscles of his back. Jimin was paralyzed, he wanted to run as far away from this place as his legs would carry him, but he didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seeeeee I told you I’d give you some content, not sorry about the cliffhanger tho, I love cliffhangers. Anyway I hope you enjoyed and will come back for the next chapter which will be Taekook focused <3 Fighting!!


	5. The Cold, Clean Cell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taehyung wakes up in a clean, cold cell. An unsuspecting guard stands just outside the bars. This could be his only chance of escape.

    Taehyung wakes up dizzy and distorted.  _ Am I high right now? _ He suddenly remembers the chains that bore into his chest and he looked down to find any marks. This was definitely gonna scar, at least his skin wasn’t nearly as raw as he expected. The marks weren’t as serious on his arms but his chest had been through hell, quite literally. Taehyung noticed that his clothes that had been burned were replaced with a white button up and white loose pants, resembling an insane asylums’ garments. 

    He looks up to scan his surroundings but there seems to be two of everything- a side effect from his dizziness- not that there’s much to see. He sees only metal walls except for one wall that’s made of bars from the cold metal floor to what he assumed to be the cold metal ceiling. 

    There was a guard standing with his back to the door just outside. Taehyung could tell that he was very muscular but almost asleep considering his head resting on the bars of his cell. If he was going to do something he needed to be silent and fast. Though he was better at the latter, he managed to stand up without a sound- and without falling over from the sudden altitude change mixed with his dizziness- and tip toe closer. The closer he got the more he noticed the small height difference between them, the guard being slightly taller. Taehyung wondered how much older the guard could be compared to himself. He shook himself free from his thoughts, he had to be prepared to do what he had to do, humanizing this guard wouldn’t help. 

    Suddenly he reached his arm through the bars and wrapped his arm around the guard’s neck. The guard immediately reacted and reached for his weapon but Taehyung was faster. He grabbed the guard’s arm and held it slightly behind the bars, gripping tighter when the guard struggled to free himself.   
    “Calm down I won’t hurt you,” he found the words leaving his lips without his own consent.  _ Shit, can I still kill him now? _ The guard stiffened still breathing heavily in distress.   
    “Why should I believe you? You have every reason to snap my neck right here, right now.” The guard’s voice sounded young, laced with distress. Taehyung knew he was right, he had to snap this kid’s neck... but he seemed to be so young, maybe even younger than Taehyung.    
    “You’re right but...” he paused to find the right words, the guard was right, the opportunity to escape was now, a second chance to escape won’t come so easily. But Taehyung never wanted to hurt anybody, he only excelled in martial arts to protect his little brothers and his little best friend. The guard didn’t say anything, he didn’t know if there was anything he was supposed to say... “just give me the keys and walk away and we both get to live alright?” Taehyung would have to place a lot of trust in the guard, keeping him alive to possibly report his escape, if he so pleased… but he really didn’t want to kill the kid. The guard shifted uncomfortably.    
    “I can’t...” he mumbled. Taehyung’s eyes were focused intently on the back of the guard’s head. His forearm felt the guard gulp followed by a shaky exhale. “I don’t have a key.” He explained while his muscles tensed as if waiting for Taehyung to kill him now. However, Taehyung felt his resolve weakening all the more until he let the guard go.

    The man stumbled forward and turned on his heel to face the one who had no reason to spare his life. Taehyung realized quickly how young the guard was... also how beautiful. His dark brown hair swept gently over his smooth forehead while his dark brown eyes stared at him, absolutely bewildered. His small pink lips parted slightly as if his jaw wanted to drop but he knew better. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before the guard whispered, almost to just himself. 

    “The first test,” he looked down to avert his eyes from Taehyung’s. “You failed the first test...” he whispered.    
    “... a test?” Taehyung’s gaze is torn away from the guard, and to the door at the end of the hallway that burst open, revealing several people in completely white quarantine suits, covering everything from head to toe. “Who the f-“ his words were cut off when one of them violently grabbed the guard and held his upper body still against his own, with the guard’s back to his chest. 

    The quarantine suit guys were so much larger than both of them, Taehyung quickly realized when 6 of them flooded into his cell. He quickly backed away, running his back into a corner, but he couldn’t keep his eyes focused on his own threat, when his eyes kept flashing to the guard attempting to lean away from the second man’s touch, but his head only pressed further into the man’s chest behind him. Taehyung caught them swabbing the side on his neck- where Taehyung had wrapped his arm around only moments ago- they ripped the top three buttons of his shirt open, revealing more than they needed to stab a syringe into the lower muscles of his neck. A pained cry ripped past the guard’s lips but was quickly silenced by a hand over his mouth. Taehyung couldn’t watch any longer due to his own 6 quarantine guys closing in slowly, cautiously.    
    Should he fight back? He probably couldn’t do much considering the size difference but he’s spent majority of his years in Taekwondo and Hapkido with Jimin so he should at least try. He’d have to be quick... 

    Taehyung slides on his side to his first victim and side sweeps both of the larger man’s legs out from under him. He places a quick hit on a pressure point near his neck, to force him into sleep. He looked up to see two running at him now so he pounced forwards, landing on both of his hands, then launching himself feet first on each man’s chest. Each foot slid a little too close to their necks for Taehyung’s own comfort. He knew this was serious, but he still didn’t want to kill anyone. He placed two more sleep ensuing blows near their necks, but apparently this took too long. The moment he looked up to find his next victim, a cold hand spread across the center of his spine and the feeling in all of his limbs were lost. He fell to his knees, but his back felt like it was glued to the cold hand, it was the only thing that held his spine straight and upright.

    He was paralyzed, he could only watch as the syringe came closer to his neck and stabbed into the lower muscles of his neck. He could still feel the pain but he couldn’t voice it. Whatever was injected into his muscles burned. It was a cold burning sensation that quickly spread to every single muscle. It was the most pain he had ever experienced.

  And just like that, he was let go, the men he had rendered unconscious were dragged out and they had all left him alone to writhe in pain. Taehyung caved in on himself and let out a hollow groan. 

_     Is this how they kill people? What did I do to make them kill me? What did the guard do? _ His attention was torn away from his own pain, to look for the guard. His eyes fell on a body in the cell across the small, white, clean hallway. His breathing was labored and his back was to Taehyung as he lay on his side, still writhing in pain.    
    “What-“ Taehyung’s words were cut off by another wave of burning in his muscles. He winced. “What the hell was that?!” He asked between labored breaths, he watched the guard attempt to move, maybe turn onto his front. Slowly the guard stabilized himself on all fours. Taehyung watched his shoulder muscles rise and fall heavily until the guard let out another labored breath... accompanied by a wave of fire. 

    Taehyung didn’t believe it the first time, so he screwed his eyes shut for a moment then looked up at him again. 

    The guard was breathing fire. The fire grazed the back of the man’s hands but he didn’t flinch, his skin didn’t burn.    
    “Protection from-“ he let out a weaker fiery breath “from whatever diseases you could’ve brought here...” he finished quickly so he couldn’t cut himself off again. “Hurts like a bitch,” he added before his muscles tensed again. Taehyung watched the guard cautiously, mostly because he didn’t know how far his fire could reach.    
    “.... what are you?” The words slipped past his lips without his consent... again. His eyes must have been an obvious display of his inner turmoil, after he accidentally spoke his thoughts, because the guard let out a pained huff of a laugh. The fire escaped through his nose this time, in light of his gritted teeth making a barrier.    
    “We’re called Dragons...” he breath begins to slow down. “Because we breathe fire, not cause we turn into the actual beast.” He added.   
    “Oh...” Taehyung watched the guard’s side profile intensely. The shadow of his jawline becoming more defined with the light from each breath of fire.    
    “What are you?” The guard turned to return the gaze but Taehyung looked down. It hadn’t occurred to him yet that no one would know what a human is in this... dimension? Maybe?    
    “Oh me?” His muscles tightened again. “I’m a human, Taehyung.” He forced a weak smile.    
    “A Taehyung, what’s a Taehyung?” The guard seemed to be coming out of his fits of pain now. Taehyung laughed, he didn’t know how he managed to find the strength to laugh but he did, it felt nice.   
    “No no n-“ he began to reaping but he was interrupted, gasping at a sudden cramp in every muscle. Muscles he didn’t even know he had, clenched and held themselves taught.    
    “Try and stretch each limb slowly, it’ll wear off.” The guard advised, he seemed to understand what was going on much better than Taehyung. Taehyung didn’t know how much he should trust this man... but he seemed to be kind so far... Taehyung did as he was told and started with one leg. It hurt. He wanted to stop, but he persevered. Finally the cramp left and he was able to sit up like the guard had already done. He watched Taehyung almost curiously, as the latter inched closer to the bars before he continued.    
    “I’m a human, my  _ name _ is Taehyung.” He explained and the guard blushed. He must have been embarrassed to have gotten confused over something so simple. 

    “Oh I’m Jungkook,” he says quietly. Taehyung scans the boy’s face before asking his next question.   
    “Are-“ he clears his throat awkwardly, “are you with them?” He gestured towards the door. Jungkook must have understood what he meant this time because he obviously tensed up for a moment.   
    “It’s hard to explain...” he looked away and this would be the part where Taehyung noticed his obvious discomfort and changed the subject, but he didn’t notice so he wiggled closer to the bars that separated them and waited for him to continue, blinking with childlike eyes. Jungkook watched him awkwardly for a moment then sighed. “They’re my people but... they have enough Dragons so they can stand to use one for the first test.”    
    “What’s the first test?” Taehyung asked cautiously... well this is what  _ he _ considered cautiously.   
    “... if given the means and motive... will a Trespasser kill...” Jungkook spoke quietly, almost too quiet to be heard. Almost.    
    “What the  _ fuck _ ?!” Taehyung stood up and raised his voice suddenly. He felt winded from the sudden change in altitude, but was too disgusted to listen to his own body screaming at him to sit back down. His sudden outburst startled Jungkook, and he let out a small gasp accompanied by a huff of fire. The younger quickly covered his mouth so the fire wouldn’t travel too far and hurt Taehyung. “You were a fucking  _ sacrifice _ for me to  _ kill _ ?!”    
    “Well yeah I-“ Jungkook let his hand fall from his lips slightly.

    “And you were  _ ok _ with this?!?!”    
    “It’s for science, we don’t-“

    “How many others have died from the first test?!”   
    “241.”   
    “TWO HUNDRED AND-“ Taehyung cut himself off and began to pace his cell. “What’s the second test? Eating a fucking child to save my ass?!”    
    “Actually the second test is seeing if I die from your touch. Might take a couple weeks though...” Jungkook said almost unbothered by the thought.   
    “WHAT THE  _ FUCK _ ?!” Taehyung burst out again. Jungkook scrambled away from the bars, perhaps in fear of the other breathing fire too.

    “Calm down… please. It’s for science.” Jungkook stood up, and raised his hands as if in surrender, in an attempt to calm Taehyung.   
    “Science my ass! We’re getting out of here!” Taehyung stated.   
    “Bu- we?” Jungkook paused and gave him an incredulous look. Taehyung returned the look.   
    “Don’t you want to escape too??” He asked.   
    “... these are my people... I can’t.” Jungkook still looked at him as if he were a completely different species, well he was.   
    “Your people are treating you like lunch meat.” Taehyung stated sharply.   
    “For science,” Jungkook added as if that helped.    
    “You’ll die if you stay here.” Taehyung stated once again.    
    “You’ll die if you try to leave here.” Jungkook raised a brow.    
    “We’ll both die if I try to leave alone.” Taehyung corrected slyly.    
    “...We won’t get anywhere like this,” Jungkook turned away and Taehyung secretly agreed… but he still thought he was right and Jungkook was absolutely insane and probably brainwashed. “I’m going to sleep.” Jungkook sat down and laid on his back, he then turned onto his side, away from Taehyung, and allowed his breathing to even out. 

    Taehyung wanted to say more. He couldn’t just leave this guy to die, he’s too young to die... he slumped down onto the floor without turning his gaze from the guard. He then pouted like a petulant child, as he stared and attempted to process all that had happened since he woke up. Taehyung pulled his knees up to his chest and chanced a glance at the door, which remained inactive. He then turned his eyes to Jungkook’s back, breathing steadily. His eyes shifted from Jungkook to his own feet. How the hell was he going to get out of this place alone? And alive… 

    He needed Jungkook to come, maybe it was the younger obviously knowing his way around better than Taehyung, maybe it was his fire-breathing abilities and his muscular stature, but Taehyung really needed Jungkook to come with him when he escaped. But how could he convince the younger to come, while both were so stubborn? He needed to wait for a better opportunity, he knows that it’s gonna take a couple weeks for the quarantined men to come back. Maybe he should dedicate that time to convincing Jungkook to escape with him. 

    “Are you going to sleep?” The familiar voice broke him out of his trance. Taehyung’s eyes refocused to see that Jungkook had rolled onto his other side to face him. The younger had propped himself up on his elbow to sit up slightly. 

    “Oh no, I’ll be up for a while.” Taehyung pulled his knees a little closer to himself and rested his chin, atop his knees. 

    “... Alright,” The younger allowed his elbow to slip out from beneath himself, he laid down and let his eyes fall shut. 

    “Goodnight,” He thought that he had spoken quiet enough to not be heard but he was proven wrong by an even quieter ‘you too’ from the guard. 

    Taehyung didn’t sleep, he couldn’t sleep, ever since he was young, he couldn’t sleep without hugging something. It had always been this way. He decided not to burden the other with his troubles, he could endure it tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for being late, yesterday and today was crazy but I got shit done. Anyway Taekook met, YAAAAAAY. I hope you enjoyed. Next chapter goes up Wednesday.


	6. The Werewolf King’s Domain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jimin meets the King and is taken in to the formidable castle of the Werewolf King.

Suddenly, with no more than a glance at Jimin, the beast began to sprint towards them, Jimin could only assume this was an act of hostility from the barbaric hunger in the beast’s eyes, and the way Yoongi’s hand tensed against the muscles of his back. Jimin was paralyzed, he wanted to run as far away from this place as his legs would carry him, but he didn’t.  
Yoongi shoved Jimin aside and transformed into a jet black beast of a smaller stature but he still stood his ground. Jimin was caught by an armored guard, he was effortlessly held against the werewolf’s chest and pulled out of the way just before the two beasts collided.   
Jimin tried to muffle his shocked horror with a hand over his mouth but he couldn’t silence the gasp when Yoongi was thrown down the stairs by the white wolf. Yoongi regained his composure just in time to get under the white wolf and throw him over his back, away from the stairs. Yoongi’s front paws landed on the pavement just in time to turn around and find the white wolf on his feet again. They began to circle each other slowly, maintaining what could’ve been a staring contest to the death. Surely either one who broke eye contact would be attacked by the other in an instant, Jimin was the only one who seemed to be distressed by the thought. Inevitably the white wolf pounced, but Yoongi got under him and threw him over his back again. The white wolf rolled over and charged at him and Yoongi mirrored him. They collided with an exchange of vicious snarling, Yoongi clamped his fangs around the white wolf’s arm but there was no blood. Jimin wondered if the white wolf had magical powers, that would explain who made the wall of trees. He just blinked, Jimin didn’t realize that so much could happen in a blink but there was no questioning it now. The white wolf had Yoongi on his back now, he stood over the smaller wolf without a scratch and radiating dignity. Jimin was shaking, if Yoongi died surely he was next, maybe that’s why he was so scared for the wolf boy. It couldn’t have been anything else.   
The white wolf looked at him, he made direct eye contact with Jimin, his lungs forgot how to expand to accept any more air. The wolf didn’t spare him much more of a glance before turning back to Yoongi and seizing his neck between his massive fangs. Yoongi didn’t let out a sound, he didn’t even look shocked, Jimin was the exact opposite.   
“Yoongi!!” Jimin attempted to tear away from the guard holding him back but he wasn’t strong enough. The white wolf let Yoongi go and turned back to Jimin. Yoongi lay limp beneath him. The werewolf turned back into his half breed form. His hair turned to a dark brown atop of his head, falling lazily just over his eyes. His upper lip was slightly fuller than his lower lip and now Jimin noticed silver piercings lining the outer rim of his white fluffy ears and one in the center of his bottom lip. He turned his gaze back to Yoongi and said something Jimin couldn’t hear.  
“Your boyfriend is crying,”   
“Why do you feel the need to assume every male I associate myself with is my boyfriend?” Yoongi turned into his half breed form as well. Jimin’s jaw fell open, he only now realized that there was no blood.   
“If he’s not your boyfriend then why is he crying?” The other looked back at Jimin who still couldn’t hear their private conversation.   
“He’s not even crying! He just got scared, don’t act like you’re above a petty jump scare, oh fearless king.” Yoongi’s smirk earned him a strong punch to the chest. He let out a loud burst of laughter.   
“Respect your hyung you brat.” The white wolf commanded but Yoongi didn’t stop laughing. “Anyway, he’s cute. If you don’t want him, I’ll take him.” Yoongi sobered up.  
“Back off, he’s not even your type. Besides, I’m trying to get him back home, to the trespasser’s realm. Could you help me find where the next portal would be?” Yoongi asked with a borderline polite tone.  
“Wahhhh, I haven’t seen you in weeks and now you’re finally back. You bring me a beautiful trespasser and tell me to help you send him away? What kind of a loyal subject…” The king ran his fingers through his hair that now tucked behind his white ears, all except for one piece that fell down onto his otherwise exposed forehead.   
“He’s really shy and fragile anyway, I’m telling you, you won’t like him.” Yoongi persisted.   
“Ah well now he’s starting to remind me of a good friend of mine,” the king stroked his jawline as if he were thinking and Yoongi knew what he was implying, he wasn’t impressed by the notion.   
“Hoseok…”   
“Hoseok hyung you brat,” The king punched him in the chest again.  
“Please help me get him home where he’s safe… hyung.” Yoongi clapped both his hands together and offered a small nod as the best he could do for a bow as he was still under the older. Hoseok still caressed his jawline, genuinely thinking now.   
“Let’s go inside and look at the charts.” Hoseok stood up and offered a hand to help up his friend. Yoongi took it and they walked up the stairs together. Once they got closer, the guard let go of Jimin and stepped back while bowing a full 90 degrees.   
Jimin didn’t know if he was bowing to Yoongi or Hoseok.   
When he had turned back from the guard to the two werewolves, he came face to face with Hoseok, the white wolf. Jimin couldn’t help them small yelp that burst from his lips or the even smaller jump back when he noticed the king. Yoongi shot an annoyed pout at the older while he simply laughed. “How cute, he’s shy just like you, Yoon Yoon!!” Hoseok didn’t turn to address the younger but he got just the response he expected when Yoongi kicked him in the back of the knee.  
“So you finally caught one alive,” Hoseok raised a hand, covered in silver jewelry to match his ears and lip and neck, guiding the younger to meet his gaze. Jimin flinched at his touch but didn’t move away, he let the king lightly push his chin until their eyes met. It was nothing like he expected, Hoseok’s eyes were a warm brown with a kind look to match yet there was still a small spark of hunger behind his eyes. “And what a fine specimen you are,” He flicked his hand up slightly as it left Jimin’s lawline.   
His choice of words alarmed Jimin, is this how they address their prey? Their sacrifices? His chances of escape seemed to get slimmer every second he stayed.   
“... is he a mute?” Hoseok turned to Yoongi and Jimin suddenly realized that the king had asked him a question directly.   
Shit, what did he say? Jimin gave Yoongi a panicked look but it looked as if his confusion went unnoticed, considering Yoongi’s eyes were focused on the king.  
“No, he’s just scared of us. His name is Jimin,” Yoongi elaborated and Jimin let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. The king must have asked for his name, Jimin was exceptionally thankful for Yoongi’s understanding in this moment.   
Hoseok still stood only a foot from Jimin but kept his eyes trained on Yoongi. “Seems like you’ve gotten to know each other quick,” Jimin caught the features of a smirk flicker across the king’s profile.   
“Hyung, I’m exhausted.” This was a poor attempt at a subject change but Hoseok accepted it either way.   
“Let’s talk inside then, shall we?” Hoseok ruffled the hair of his disgruntled friend then turned to walk inside, he seemed to glide more than walk. Yoongi’s eyes settled on a startled and confused Jimin, who stared at the back of the king as he glided towards the tall castle doors.   
“Sorry if he startled you, he can be… abrasive, sometimes.” Yoongi whispered in hopes that the king wouldn’t hear. Jimin just now noticed how close he had come. He looked down to gather his thoughts, a difficult task considering he was still painfully aware of the cold gaze that bore into the top of his head.   
“It’s alright,” Jimin responded even quieter than the older but Yoongi seemed content with the response. Again, Jimin felt a large hand stretch across the small of his back. He didn’t need to question who it belonged to, nor did he question why the older felt like he needed guidance to follow the king into his intensely dark castle, he simply allowed the wolf boy to guide him along their path again. He took the opportunity to take in his surroundings as the darkness that surrounded the exterior of the castle came closer and closer, until he stood in the shadow of the tall, blood red doors, black beams of smooth metal ran up the doors from the bottom to the top, contrasting the silver door handle that was swung back open upon the king’s return. Jimin spared a glance at Yoongi who had already returned to his unbothered, cold nature, before looking to the interior of the castle.   
It wasn’t at all what he expected.   
After seeing the dark and brooding carriage, courtyard, guards, exterior, even the way he greeted his friend, Jimin did not expect to see the most brilliant, colorful carpet leading to a silver throne with bright, brilliant colored cushions to match. Everything in the throne room seemed to take on the theme of bright and beautiful colors, also wings, Jimin learned quickly that Hoseok must have a thing for flying because the amount of wings that he saw in the art pieces was astonishing. The carpet itself was an art piece, Jimin felt like he shouldn’t be standing on it but Yoongi’s hands still ushering him forward reminded him that he was where he needed to be.   
Wait. No. I’m still in danger, right? Jimin shook himself free of his feelings of comfort. The beauty of the throne room had distracted him and even lulled him into a false sense of security, which must have been a part of their plan. He tried to be discreet about looking around for a sacrificial table or something. Do they burn people to death here? He thought to himself but he caught the uncharacteristically warm eyes of Yoongi who watched him with a mix of amusement and something Jimin couldn’t identify before the wolf boy looked away again. Jimin looked up slightly to see the older’s ears subconsciously pull back again, he didn’t know why the sight made him smile, let alone bring a warm feeling to his cheeks. He followed the boy’s eyes to Hoseok who bowed slightly to a servant girl, she stood on her tippy toes as she hovered a silver crown over the king’s wolf ears.  
It was unlike any crown Jimin had seen, yet he knew it was a crown. A silver chain ran between his massive wolf ears and split into three on either side, the chains fell just below his ears, and traced along his deep brown hair, then connected in the center of the back of his head. What was most intriguing was the metallic flowers and thorns that seemed to have been dipped into pale colors at the ends, the colors weren’t nearly as brilliant as the pattern of his throne, but it still followed the color scheme.   
Hoseok straighten back up and gave the servant girl a kind nod, she bowed a full 90 degrees and stepped backwards to return to her post. The servant girl wore silver armor just like the guards outside, but her ears and tail were dyed a bright teal, to follow the color scheme of the throne room. Jimin looked around and realized that she wasn’t the only one. There were seven other servant girls, all wearing silver armor and brightly colored ears and tails. They were all quite beautiful. He began to notice each servant bow as they approached, Jimin turned to his escort, who returned their respect with a kind nod of his head, his ears had perked up again. Jimin wondered if he was supposed to bow, would Yoongi tell him when to bow? Was he supposed to bow earlier and he didn’t know? Oh god, if he wasn’t a sacrifice then he sure is now…   
Hoseok glided up the stairs and took his place on the throne with his legs crossed, he never looked more regal and ethereal than he did now.   
Yoongi leaned over to Jimin again. “Stay here,” he instructed before his hand slipped off its place on his back. Jimin only now realized how much safer he felt with Yoongi guiding him, he suddenly felt out of place, like maybe someone would attack him from behind now. He wanted to follow Yoongi as he strode up to his place on the right side of the king, his throne was also silver but the cushions were a deep navy blue instead of the bright, lively pattern that surrounded them. Jimin squirmed under the pressure of their combined gaze. His knees felt weak, similar to the feeling in his lungs. Hoseok didn’t seem to notice, his eyes were studying his friend. The king swung his legs over the arm of his throne to face Yoongi, and lean his back against the other arm of his throne.   
“I assume you have a plan,” the king prodded, his eyes focused on Yoongi, who faced forwards but didn’t look directly at Jimin, he had his legs crossed and an elbow propped on the arm of his throne, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.   
When Yoongi spoke, his voice was dull, almost bored. Monotonous and calm, he spoke with a confidence Jimin had yet to witness but it didn’t seem to faze Hoseok nearly as much. “I’d like to look at the charts, and find a sheltered region where Jimin can be sent home. We’ll need to stay the night here, and leave around sunrise tomorrow,”   
“You won’t be awake before noon,” Hoseok interrupted.   
Yoongi continued, unbothered, “I know you have no jurisdiction outside the borders, so if you could send us off with a carriage until the border, we can travel the rest of the way on foot. Off the top of my head, I think the Mermaid region would be closest.”  
“Really? I thought the Meif’wa region would be best.” Hoseok retorted, he looked to be taking the younger seriously now. Jimin was overwhelmed by simply the concept of staying the night.  
“No the portal was in the Vampire region last, you’re thinking of the Elemental region.” Yoongi corrected blandly and Hoseok nodded.   
“Right, I always forget that Vampire comes after Elemental. We should go look at the charts before deciding anything for certain.” Hoseok stood up, followed by Yoongi. Upon their descent of the stairs, the servants in the room bowed again and Jimin looked around awkwardly to discover he was the only one still standing, he quickly bowed and screwed his eyes shut for a moment. Maybe if he could just take this moment to gather his thoughts, and process all the things that had happened in the past 20 minutes, he could straighten back up without fainting. It was silent, an uncomfortable silence, Jimin had a small panic in this moment.   
Shit did he ask me another question? Did Yoongi already answer for me? Am I supposed to straighten up now? Did they leave already? What the fuck? Why would Yoongi leave without me? A familiar hand caressed his lawline and guided him to stand up, he knew it wasn’t Yoongi. He came face to face with the king once again, his fiercely warm eyes pierced into Jimin’s soft gaze.   
“He’s so pretty,” Jimin knew the king was talking about him but he was addressing Yoongi.  
“Keep it in your pants, oh wise king.” Yoongi retorted, earning him a strong punch to the chest once again.   
“Watch your mouth brat, I’m still undecided if I have enough rooms for both of you.” Hoseok threatened. Jimin assumed he meant, he wasn’t above throwing them out for the night, but Yoongi must have caught a different meaning.   
“Hoseok I swear to god-“ He started.  
Hoseok ignored his friend, let his hand fall from Jimin’s jawline to grab his hand, and lead him towards an extravagant hallway. “Come on little fairy, let’s get into something a little more comfortable.” He made sure to shoot Yoongi a devious look when he said the last words. Yoongi opened his mouth to retort but decided to settle into a pout instead and follow his scheming friend instead.   
Jimin looked back for a moment to make sure Yoongi was still following before returning his gaze to the older who pulled him through the hallway and up the spiraling stairs. The windows were skinny, and stretched from the floor to a point just before they touched the ceiling; Jimin lost count of how many they passed before they stopped at a door. Hoseok threw the door open to reveal another servant looking girl but she was embellished with many piercings and jewelry, unlike the others.   
“Jiyoo, take this one and send him to the navigator’s tower when you’re done.” Hoseok swung Jimin forward and into the room while the king stayed, comfortably peeking from around the door.   
“Of course, Your Majesty.” She was sitting on the floor, on her knees, to get a better look at the hem of an especially extravagant dress, but she still turned to bow to him as she spoke. With that, Hoseok nodded and shut the door behind himself and Yoongi.   
Ah shit, he took Yoongi… considering this was the only werewolf he knew here, Jimin felt a strange need to stay close to the older. Now that Yoongi has abandoned him in the midst of another unfamiliar werewolf, Jimin felt exponentially less comfortable and less safe.   
“Aren’t you a beautiful find. I don’t think I’ll have much trouble cleaning you up.” Jiyoo now stood up and began to circle him like a judgemental vulture. Jimin suddenly felt very aware of his own body, the body he had ignored ever since he was being chased by the vicious werewolves. His shirt was torn at the elbows and blood had dried the edges of the sleeves. The holes in the knees of his jeans had expanded and blood dried thenfabric to his skin, this was gonna be a pain to get out of. Dirt covered his right side from where he had slid and he was sure there was dirt in his hair.   
How is everyone calling me beautiful when I look like this? Jimin’s eyes locked with his own, in the reflection of a nearby mirror. Dirt had smudged on his right cheek and blood had dried on his neck, pouring from a cut on his jawline. How did all this happen so quick?   
“Can you speak darling?” Jiyoo stood in front of him and studied his faced closely, maybe she gets it from her king.  
Why do people keep asking me if I’m a mute? I’m just quiet, damn. “Yeah, I was just-“   
“Lost in thought? I won’t take long, you’ll be back with your friend in just a moment or two.” Jimin flinched at her words. Yoongi isn’t his friend, even if he really does want to get back to him as soon as possible. That doesn’t mean they’re friends… but her words still comforted him.   
“Alright,” Jimin avoided her piercing gaze and the mirror that had distracted him, Jiyoo didn’t see to care and she simply tossed him a towel. Jimin caught it but looked at her, confusion maring his brow.   
“I assume you know how to wash yourself,” Jiyoo gave him an amused look, Jimin nodded and followed her to another tall door. Somehow Jimin thought they didn’t have a shower here… he was right. He walked into a room with smooth black rock traveling from the floor to halfway up the walls where it met the same pattern from the throne room, his eyes fell on a bath large enough for four people, already filling with water. Jiyoo walked over and turned off the water then turned to Jimin. “I’ll send someone with a change of clothes for you.” Jiyoo turned back to the door and made to leave him alone. “Don’t fret, I’ll have her knock of course.” She peeked through the door and winked just before shutting and locking the door.   
She must still expect me to run away… Jimin thought, after the click of the lock. She was right to expect him to run, he was already plotting. Tonight when he’s left alone in his room he’ll climb out a window and get as far away from this place as possible. That was the plan anyway, but for now he had to cooperate.   
Jimin was nervous about being interrupted by the stylist so he didn’t take his time in the bath, though the water was warm and comforting, it didn’t take long to turn a watered down and mixed shade of brown and blood red. Jimin hopped out of the bath and hastily dried himself. He wasn’t fast enough. Jimin heard an inevitable knock at the door and quickly wrapped his lower half in the towel. Water still dripped from his hair onto his nose and cheeks, as he whipped around to see who interrupted him. The door creaked open to reveal a flustered servant girl standing stock still in the doorway. Her face was bright red and Jimin wondered just how much she had seen, the thought brought heat up Jimin’s neck, settling in his cheeks. She held a pile of clothes in her arms and finally walked closer to hand Jimin the garments.   
“Master Jiyoo said to try this, I’ll be outside.” She quickly shoved the clothes into his still damp chest, bowed, then almost ran away. Jimin didn’t register reaching out to catch the clothes against his chest, but apparently he did, so he finished drying his hair as best he could and slipped into the garments. When he walked out, the servant girl was standing just a few feet away, as promised. Jimin blinked at her for a moment, waiting for instruction, a response of any kind, but she just stood there for a moment, a blank expression gracing her features. “.... right, master Jiyoo… oh this way.” She blushed furiously again and turned to lead him away. Jimin looked down to see if he had worn one of the garments wrong. He was sure his shirt was on backwards, but when he wore it the other way, it felt even more unnatural. So he assumed the center of his chest to his upper abdomen was supposed to be exposed by the pale grey silk that stretched across the rest of his torso. At least his pants felt natural, considering they were just simple black jeans. The breeze from the open windows hit his chest as he followed the girl, this only made him more aware of his bareness. When they met Jiyoo, she was sitting on a pillow on the floor, with another pillow in front of her. She looked Jimin up and down, he tried not to notice.  
“How charming, sit down please.” She motioned to the pillow in front of her and waved off the servant girl. Both compiled. The stylist began to run her fingers through Jimin’s hair and it began to hold it’s shape a little more each time. He would’ve expected such a ruthless beast to be more harsh, and calloused but she was gentle, almost motherly.   
Jimin wondered if his mother from his own dimension was worried now. She had definitely already called everyone she knew, including the police in an attempt to track him down. He wished to go back and just tell her that he’s ok and he didn’t run away because she was an inadequate mother. She was a great mother, she just never gave herself enough credit…   
Jiyoo sat back and scanned his face thoroughly. “I told you it wouldn’t take long, Minseo will take you to your friend.” Jiyoo smiled brightly, Jimin didn’t realize that he had returned the smile until he caught himself in the mirror behind her. His exposed chest and forehead made him insecure, he stood back up and shyly bowed, before turning to the just as bashful servant girl. They both exchanged a small, awkward nod before the girl turned to the door and guided him away. Jimin followed her in a stiff silence through the extravagant hallway and up another set of spiral stairs. He seriously considered just running now, there were no guards, and surely the servant girl couldn’t pursue with the extravagant dress she wore, every window he passed looked more and more inviting… he could just run now but he didn’t. He hated himself for not running when he had such an opportunity given to him on a silver platter.   
The opportunity was gone when the servant opened a door revealing Hoseok and Yoongi, who both looked up to see who interrupted their conversation. Both leaned over a table decorated with charts spread widely across the surface. Hoseok only glanced at Jimin before his eyes shot to Yoongi, amusement and a knowing smirk playing across his strong features. Yoongi stared blankly at Jimin for a long minute. His eyes scanned from his forehead, to his eyes, to his chest, to his collarbone. Jimin looked away in an attempt to not notice the older’s piercing gaze. Hoseok looked between them with the same look growing more amused as the tension in the room grew thicker. He turned to Yoongi and spoke in a language Jimin didn’t recognize, he didn’t know what the king could’ve said to make Yoongi turn such a bright shade of red so fast, but he was successful. Yoongi tried to redirect his gaze to the charts and mumble something incoherent in the same unfamiliar language but Hoseok wasn’t letting him off that easily.   
“I’m sure you’re hungry,” The king turned to Jimin who was slightly thrown off by the statement. He wasn’t hungry, not at all. He didn’t want to eat until he found his friend again but the king persisted. “Join us for dinner tonight, we’ll have a feast to welcome Yoongi home. I barely get to see you anymore,” Hoseok turned back to Yoongi who visibly gulped.   
“I don’t want a feast hyung, let’s just eat simple tonight.” Yoongi kept his eyes focused on the charts and traced his fingers along an irrelevant line.   
“Alright, I’ll make an exception tonight.” Hoseok watched his friend closely.   
Yoongi still didn’t look up from the charts. He simply nodded to acknowledge his friend.  
“Would you like to fill your little travel buddy in on your plan?” Hoseok motioned for Jimin to join them at the table.   
Jimin complied with a wary look at Yoongi, who was acting strange, it was almost like even looking at Jimin caused the older great discomfort. When he looked down at the table, he noticed a map carved into the wooden surface.   
Now he saw the regions that the other two had mentioned. Each region had borders surrounding it, some regions were almost too small the fit the name of the region inside, others, like the elemental region had even smaller regions inside, such as fire, ice, and air. Every region had either the label “aggressive”, “neutral”, or “sheltered”. Jimin easily found where the portal was when Taehyung entere- the Elemental region- where he was - the Werewolf region- and a sheltered region in the middle- the Fairy region. He had his destination now. Taehyung just needed to find a way to meet him halfway, he didn’t know how he could do it, yet he believed in his friend blindly. Jimin just needed to focus on getting himself to the vague rendezvous point.   
“We’ll be passing through the Changeling region to the Fairy region. Fairies are friendly to trespassers, they’ll do their magic, reopen the portal from which you came, and send you home.” Yoongi gestured towards the map while still avoiding Jimin and Hoseok’s combined gaze.  
“Sound good?” Hoseok prompted for Jimin to speak but he just nodded. He was relieved that Yoongi’s plan coincided with his own but he couldn’t help but feel like he still had to escape tonight if he wanted any chance of finding his friend before being sent home. “I’ll make sure to invite someone who communicates with their words to dinner tonight,” Hoseok shot both of them a passive aggressive look. His eyes settled mischievously on his friend, “... well, since the plans are already finalized and dinner isn’t for another hour… allow me to show you to your room,” Yoongi’s ears shot up.  
“Hyung…” Yoongi started warily, reproachfully. He gave Hoseok a weary look but his friend only returned his obvious distress with an amused smile.   
“Did I fucking stutter?” He raised a brow, mirrored by Yoongi but not for long. Hoseok turned away and practically skipped out of the room. Jimin started to cautiously follow but a hand reached out and wrapped around his wrist.   
“Stay here,” Jimin had only seen Yoongi look this vicious when he attacked the hunters from their first encounter. Yoongi walked ahead and shut the door behind him. Jimin looked around awkwardly and began to fiddle with the silk that rippled against his torso. He was startled by a loud thud on the other side of the door, Jimin could hear what had to be Yoongi’s muffled whispering in his native tongue. Jimin looked around a little more urgently this time just in case he needed to make a run for it, out the nearest window, maybe werewolves are temperamental and often kill each other if there’s a disagreement. Maybe he was next. He didn’t hear Hoseok respond, so he inches closer to the door in an attempt to hear something, anything. Still no sign of Hoseok… Jimin presses his ear to the door and now heard absolutely nothing…   
Oh shit… Jimin paled and began to take a step away from the door before it was swung open my a disgruntled but unharmed Hoseok. There was no blood, nor any sign of an altercation. Even his hair was still perfectly styled back, with the exception of the one strand of his bangs that fell onto his otherwise exposed forehead.   
“Looks like your roomie doesn’t want to cuddle tonight, will you be alright all by yourself?” Hoseok didn’t do a convincing job of hiding his pout. Finally Jimin realized what was going on, he felt heat rise from his neck, to his cheeks.   
“I’ll manage,” Jimin snuck a glance at Yoongi who stood on the other side of the door glaring viciously at the older. He couldn’t hold back a small giggle, which brightened Hoseok’s mood.   
Hoseok lead a reproachful Yoongi and a slightly more relaxed Jimin to a set of tall black doors. Jimin couldn’t help but notice the silver locks above the crystal handles, his comfort faded. He didn’t know why he had expected anything different. He is still a prisoner…  
Hoseok swung the doors wide open to reveal the most beautiful and extravagant bedroom, Jimin had ever seen. The bed was covered with smooth, black, velvet, contrasting the beige in the design of the pillows and walls. The same black and beige pattern graced the rug, that stretched from where they stood to the window. A large window, easy to open and escape through, Jimin tried not to stare for too long so he wouldn’t draw the attention of a notably curious werewolf.   
Yoongi has been watching him intently, with worry and something Jimin couldn’t recognize, encompassing his gaze. Jimin felt as if his every move was being monitored, and it was. He wondered why the werewolf was so intent on watching him.  
“Sorry, the presidential suite is taken… and its occupants are adamant on being alone, so it looks like you’ll have the penthouse suite.” Hoseok scanned the room with a hint of disappointment still obvious in his tone.  
“Oh no uh…” Jimin didn’t know what to call him. He was upset earlier when Yoongi didn’t call him “hyung” but he still didn’t think he had the right to call the King of the werewolves “hyung”. Should he call Hoseok just… Hoseok? Your Majesty? Lord?   
Hoseok must have picked up on Jimin’s inner turmoil, he interrupted with an amused smirk. “Call me Hyung,” Jimin’s eyes popped out of his head when he looked back up at the older, he looked to Yoongi to see that he wasn’t the only one.   
“Right uh, this is alright, Hyung.” Jimin avoided eye contact with both werewolves and the window that seemed to be calling him.   
“Fine then, I’ll have someone come fetch you before dinner. Yoon Yoon and I must attend to some royal business.” Hoseok explained shortly, grabbing Yoongi by the collar of his shirt, and pulling him outside of the room. With that, he shut the door and left Jimin alone in the massive room.   
Should I escape now? He inched closer to the window until he could see the courtyard, he was disappointed to see that every inch of the place seemed to be under the eye of an armored guard. Jimin ran his fingers through his hair as he turned back to the door, the bed looked exponentially more inviting as the moments passed. Jimin had been emotionally and physically exhausted within the first 5 minutes of entering this realm, a nap sounded very appealing right now. No, if he was to escape tonight, he needed to plan now. Taehyung is more important than sleep, but if he was to be successful in his escape, shouldn’t he rest now? How could he endure the inevitable chase to come if he was already exhausted from simply standing and keeping his eyes open? Jimin paced the room, avoiding the massive rug, which looked too expensive to be stepped on.   
Jimin’s gaze shifted from the window, to the guards outside, to the door, to the bed, then the cycle began again. Window, guards, door, bed, window, guards, door, bed, windows, guards, doors, beds.   
He passed out, from exhaustion or stress, he didn’t know, he didn’t need to know. He was unconscious now. The first moment of peace he felt since he climbed the massive oak tree back home with his friend. In his state he couldn’t worry about what would happen to Taehyung or himself, his body only focused on breathing, he couldn’t even be thankful for the significant peace in his mind.   
The same peace didn’t reach the servant girl when she came to retrieve him for dinner. She peeked through the crack in the doors when her knocking went unanswered. Her eyes fell on his body, stoic on the extravagant rug. The girl threw the doors open and ran in to check for any signs of life, to her relief, she didn’t have to tell the king that Jimin had died. She still didn’t know what to do, would the king be angry at her for waking him or not bringing him? She only knew one thing to do in situations like these.   
She returned to the room with the King’s right hand man trailing not far behind. She opened the door and stepped aside to admit Yoongi’s entry.   
“Did you see what happened?” He asked as he knelt down and pressed two fingers to a pressure point on Jimin’s neck.   
“No sir, I walked in and he had already fallen.” The girl explained softly.  
“He’s only sleeping, I’ll tell Hoseok that he won’t be joining us tonight.” Yoongi took Jimin into his arms and turned to the servant girl.   
“Thank you,” she bowed a full 90 degrees but he didn’t nod in return.   
“Will you move the sheets aside?” He nodded towards the bed and she quickly complied without a word. Yoongi laid Jimin in the bed and pulled the covers up to his collarbone. “have Jiyoo send some comfortable clothes for him to sleep in. Not Hoseok’s definition of comfortable.” He continued to speak to the servant girl without turning his gaze from Jimin.   
“Will do, thank you again.” She bowed and left swiftly. Yoongi didn’t realize that he was still staring until the door shut behind her, his ears perked up to the sound and he was brought back to his senses.   
“Right, I-“ why am I talking to you? You’re asleep. Yoongi furrowed his brow, annoyed at his own stupid actions. He began to walk away but he couldn’t help looking back again, just to make sure Jimin was still breathing. His ears perked up again to hear steady breaths coming from his parted lips. Yoongi nodded and looked down again, then left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE AND RESPECT KING HOSEOK WITH ALL MY HEARTEU AND POOR JIMIN also SOFT YOONMIN IS MY LIIIIIFE YES BITCH. Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing!! Have a nice day armies <3


	7. The Cell Across the Hallway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taehyung and Jungkook decide that since they’re going to be together for a while, they might as well get to know each other.

    Taehyung didn’t have much to do while he waited for the younger to wake, so he simply sat there, legs crossed like a child, plotting his escape. 

    This wasn’t a simple task, considering his immense lack of knowledge regarding his surroundings. He knew that his first step would be getting out of the cell unnoticed, unless he could convince Jungkook to join him… then  _ that _ and a multitude of other things would be made easy…

    He needed Jungkook to come, but apparently the younger was easily irritated. Taehyung would need to use a certain finesse that he seemed to lack, he’d need to learn over night. Hours upon hours passed, Taehyung settled in, laying on his back, staring blankly at the symmetrically blank ceiling. He lost his sense of time, dreaming of returning home. 

    The second his feet touched the familiar grass, he’d run and find Jimin, they’d probably hug for hours, Jimin would probably insist on staying over, after this Taehyung would certainly need the cuddles. Taehyung took for granted, the feeling of safety, sleep, family…

    “Jungkook!!” The name left his lips before he fully realized what was going on, the floor beneath one of his legs gave in, Taehyung scrambled back just before the floor could close up, cutting off his leg. His eyes grew wide as saucers, he could’ve lost his fucking leg. “Jungkook wake up!! Wake up!!” He screamed desperately as he backed into the corner. 

    Jungkook sat up the first time Taehyung called, he was on his feet now, searching for what the hell was wrong. “Taehyung, calm down. Taehyung!” He has to yell to bring the older’s eyes from the floor to his face. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” 

    “I almost had my fucking leg cut off, the floor just gave out then closed back up again.” Then Jungkook did the impossible, after seeing man breathe fire and face guaranteed death unbothered, he would’ve never expected to see him literally laugh in the face of danger. He  _ fucking  _ laughed… “shit man, are you a psychopath?” Taehyung pushed himself a little more into his corner. 

    “No Taehyung, that’s breakfast.” He said through a wide smile. 

    “My  _ leg _ ?!”

    “Oh my gods no!” Jungkook burst out into fits of laughter yet again. 

    “Well then what the hell-“ the floor gave way in the same place once again. Taehyung noticed the same happen in Jungkook’s cell now. A new tile, topped with a plate of food replaced the other. A devious smirk graced the younger’s features. “Oh…” Taehyung still stared from his corner with wide eyes. “Is this gonna be the meat of someone’s first born son or some twisted shit?” Jungkook simply smiled and shook his head as he approached his own plate. 

    “No, are there Pourc in your world?” 

    “Yeah we got pork,” Taehyung seemed to feel immensely more comfortable at the mention of something familiar to him. 

    “Great! It’s just Pourc.” Jungkook sat down while Taehyung began to join him. They both sat with their legs stretching through the bars to meet in the middle while they ate. Taehyung was momentarily bothered by the pork tasting like chicken, but vouched to ignore it on account of his own starving. 

    “Do you guys have puppies here?” Taehyung was scared to ask considering what he already knows they’re willing to sacrifice for science. 

    “No, what’s that?” Jungkook asked in return. Taehyung perked up and schooched forward a bit more so he could press his feet against the other’s. 

    “They’re very small and adorable and fluffy. And you can cuddle with them and name them and they’ll be your friend for life!”

    “Like dragons!!” Jungkook bounced, Taehyung simply gaped at the enthusiastic other. “Do you have dragons in your world?”

    “We have an idea of what they’re like but from what you’re saying I think we’re terribly wrong.” 

    “Well they’re pretty aggressive until they warm up to you-“

    “Was that a pun?” 

    “A pun?” 

    “I’ll explain later, just tell me about the dragons.”

    Jungkook told Taehyung about his friendly childhood dragon before they fell into a conversation about the many differences between their worlds. The topic faded from their different worlds into their different backgrounds, into their different ways of life, it was all so interesting to learn. Neither had anywhere else to be, so breakfast faded into lunch, fading into dinner, where the younger began to grow tired again. Taehyung was equally as tired but knew there was no hope of sleep for him until he returned home. Jungkook still stretched his legs out so his feet could meet Taehyung but he laid on his back now, breathing steadily. 

    “Hey Tae,”

    “Yeah?”

    “Do humans need sleep?” Taehyung narrowed his eyes at the strange question, had he been caught without realizing last night?

    “Yeah, we do.” Jungkook now sat up to make eye contact through the bars. 

  *     “Then why didn’t you sleep last night?” well that answers Taehyung’squestion.



    “How did you know?” Taehyung blushed in embarrassment, he never meant to wake the younger. 

    “I’m a light sleeper, I heard you pacing.” Jungkook shrugged while cocking his head, Taehyung couldn’t deny, it was cute. 

    “Oh ahhhh I’m special,” Taehyung felt much closer to Jungkook after talking to him for who knows how long but he still didn’t want to be a burden. It’s not his problem. 

    “So you  _ don’t  _ need sleep?” 

    “No it’s just-“  _ shit  _ he was cornered and Jungkook didn’t even realize,  _ fuck it, _ “I can’t sleep unless I’m hugging something. It’s been this way since I was young, I’ve literally never slept without hugging something in my life.” It was just like ripping off a bandage, maybe if he said it fast enough, Jungkook wouldn’t judge him. 

    He had avoided eye contact with Jungkook while he blurted it all out, but after a moment of complete silence, he was forced to look up and find the other. Jungkook was standing up,

    “You can hug me if it’d help. I don’t mind,” He shoved his hands deep into his own pockets as he approached the door calmly. Taehyung was taken aback by Jungkook’s generosity. It took him a moment to stand up too.

     “Well I don’t think that’d work out ya see…” Taehyung tapped his knuckles on the bars that separated them from across the hallway. Jungkook raised a finger to the lock on the door and melted it, remaining unbothered. 

     Wow, it’d be nice to have Jungkook during his escape. 

    Jungkook strode across the hallway and began melting Taehyung’s lock as well.

    “I wouldn’t try escaping through the doors though, the second you open this one-“ he nodded toward the door to just outside their room as he continued, “you’ll be killed.” 

    “What happens when the find out about you melting the locks?” Taehyung still stood near the bars but kept his distance from the door.

    “You’ll be long gone by then… right?” Jungkook pushed the door open causing Taehyung to take a small step back, Jungkook didn’t miss it. He knew his own strength, he knew he could accidentally mangle and destroy Taehyung if he got too emotional, too close. So he kept calm, he didn’t let Taehyung’s obvious jolt of fear affect him. 

    “Yeah, right. Are you still set on not coming?” Taehyung chanced a step forwards, Jungkook returned his hands to his pockets. 

     “I’d still like to stay,” Jungkook met Taehyung’s eyes with less assurance compared to last time, the older took this as a good sign, so he simply nodded and allowed Jungkook to walk past. Jungkook laid down on his side again, he still seemed completely unbothered. “Just don’t touch my hands and I’ll be alright,” he really tried not to mention his fear of burning Taehyung but his anxiety was stronger than his will. 

    “Okeydokey thanks,” Taehyung didn’t notice the other flinch when he sat down behind him and rolled over, this is gonna be easy, all he needs to do is pretend this is his best friend, Jimin, and  _ not  _ overthink it. He screwed his eyes shut then opened them again. The smooth, wide expanse of silk that was Jungkook’s shirt, had become a soft blue sweater, Jimin. Taehyung held back the tears, knowing this wasn’t really his friend and wrapped his arms around Jungkook’s waist, the feeling of silk and tense muscles brought him out of his fragile dream. Taehyung screwed his eyes shut again and buried his face between Jungkook’s shoulder blades, shielding his eyes from the cold reality surrounding him. It did nothing to help, Jungkook smelled nothing like home, felt nothing like home. Home smelled like warm vanilla and his mom, everything was soft, the grass, the carpet, the couch, his bed… 

    Jungkook smelled nothing like warm vanilla or his mom. He smelled like char and spearmint. His shirt was smooth but not soft, and his body beneath was still held taught. He couldn’t blame him, of course he was tense, Taehyung was practically a stranger to him, then he asked for cuddles so he could sleep alright? This is exactly what he didn’t want, to be a burden. 

    It took every ounce of willpower Jungkook held in his body, to relax his muscles.  _ I’ve never shot fire out my back and I won’t start tonight.  _ He repeated in his head until he felt Taehyung bury his face between his shoulder blades.  _ I’m not going to hurt him, I’m not going to hurt him, I’m not going to hurt him.  _ Finally his muscles relaxed, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Now all he had to do was sleep without moving his hands from beneath his head and not roll over. He was never one to move in his sleep anyway,

    Taehyung felt Jungkook’s muscles relax. He wasn’t as squishy as his stuffed heart back home, but this was better now. 

    At least he no longer felt like he was causing the other pain. 

    He was so caught up in his own head that he didn’t realize the lack of sleep catching up with the rest of his body. His legs felt heavy, his eyelids followed suit. He passed out, snoring softly into the other’s shirt. 

    Jungkook heard the other snoring, maybe he could slip away now and sleep in his own cell where they’d both be safe. He began to slowly pull himself away but the arm, still wrapped around his waist, pulled weakly, as if it was acting on its own accord. Jungkook heaved a heavy sigh, this was such a terrible idea, but if this guy was going to try to escape soon, he should at least get some sleep. He settled back on his side and allowed his eyes to fall shut. 

    “Goodnight Taehyung,” he whispered. 

    “Goodnight,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for the short Taekook chapter, I’ve never been good with writing conversations but trust me. Shit’s about to go DOWN. Regardless, I’ll be double posting because I know this is short and I want to give you guys good content. I hope you have a nice day, love you guys! Fighting!!


	8. The Werewolf Kingdom pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jimin needs to escape the Werewolf Kingdom tonight, but he’s already fallen behind, and now he needs a whole new plan.

    When Jimin woke up, it was dark outside. Panic quickly overwhelmed his senses, he missed dinner. Hoseok was definitely angry with him now, surely he had hurt Yoongi’s feelings too. He missed the majority of his window to escape. He didn’t have time to make a plan now, he just needed to go, run. 

    Jimin sat up and sprinted towards the window but he rammed his hip into a side table, knocking a glass vase to the ground. It shattered with a sound that pierced the silence of the night, he surely awoke half the castle now. He should get back in bed and pretend nothing happened, this was at least less stupid than the action he decided to take instead. He stood on the window sill and ripped the window open, he then pushed the widow open enough for him to slip through. He sat down and swung a leg to the outside, his eyes scanned over the ground beneath his window, it was dark, but the moon provided enough light to see a place clear of shrubbery, where he could land.

    “You won’t survive this way.” A familiar voice called from the shadows. Jimin’s head whipped around to find the source of the voice but there was no one to be found. 

    “I’ve jumped from higher,” He didn’t know from where his sudden wave of confidence came, but he surely preferred this to his fear paralysis. 

    “You won’t die from the fall… the guards are trained to kill all living things on royal grounds after dark.” Yoongi emerged into the light, only emitted from the moon in the window. His pale skin was tinted with a gentle shade of blue from the light. Jimin paled, he just talked back to Min Yoongi. Maybe he was the first to ever dare.

    “.... oh,” is all he could manage to say now. Well there goes plan A, now would be the time for plan B, if he had such a thing. 

    “You wouldn’t survive getting to the border either, werewolves hunt trespassers for sport.” Yoongi continued and Jimin’s eyes shot up to meet his. Not Taehyung. He’s ok, Taehyung is ok… “why can’t you wait until tomorrow to leave?” Yoongi still held eye contact with Jimin, he looked more hurt than angry. “Safely,” he added.

    “I um-“  _ fuck it  _ “I need to find my friend, he entered the portal and I came here to find him and I can’t leave without him.”  _ Holy shit I said it, why was I so scared to say it? That wasn’t so bad. _

    “The portal was in the Vampire region last. Your friend is definitely a vampire now and shouldn’t be removed from his region or he could be exposed to the sun and burn. You  _ need  _ to leave without him. For both of your well-beings,” 

_     Ahhhhh, that’s probably why I didn’t want to say it.  _ “No wait, I threw a pebble into the last portal so that doesn’t count.”  _ Haha! There’s still a chance!! _

    “Even worse,”

_ Ah shit, _

    “your friend entered the Elemental region of Fire. No one has ever escaped alive. Not even natives.” 

    “If anyone can, Taehyung can.” Jimin retorted with a blind bravery, Yoongi’s ears pulled back like a cat once again. 

    “Jimin, you’ve got to think logically. If your friend tries to escape, he’ll die. If he doesn’t escape, he’ll die. The only person to can save now is yourself.” Yoongi spoke softly, as if he didn’t want to be the one to break the news to him. He didn’t know how else to speak gently, werewolves were taught to speak their minds, bluntly and brutally, and if they started a fight this way, they were taught to win. 

    “Bullshit,” Yoongi’s eyes almost popped out of his head, his ears shot straight up as he gawked at Jimin. He must have been surprised to hear such words come out of such a small, timid, fairy-like creature. Jimin was also astonished at his own boldness but he didn’t stop. “Taehyung  _ will  _ escape and  _ I  _ will be waiting for him in the Fairy region until  _ we _ can go home... together.” Jimin swung his other leg over the window sill, to the outside. 

    The second Jimin pushed himself off the safety of the surface, and into the uncertainty of the wind, he felt two arms wrap around his torso and drag him back with such force, he slid to a stop on the rug that shifted along with his momentum. Yoongi threw him…

    Yoongi  _ threw  _ him. 

     “What the hell?!” Jimin stood up quickly so he could find the older. He was more angry than scared, Jimin is  _ not  _ a rag doll, and shouldn’t be thrown like one. His eyes fell on Yoongi, who sat on the window sill and reached out to find something on the outside of the window. Jimin didn’t know if he should wait or just run, but he was curious. He hated how his curiosity held him back. Why did Yoongi throw him, then just ignore him? Yoongi came back into the room and threw an arrow  _ into _ the wooden floors as he walked closer. 

    “You could’ve fucking died, why can’t you listen? Your friend  _ will  _ die and you will too if you leave here alone.” Now Yoongi looked angry, the only light source being the moon behind him didn’t help. His ears were pulled back, his hands had formed into fists. Jimin was finally scared again, with every step forwards that Yoongi took, Jimin stepped back. 

    “Y-you’re wrong! He’s gonna be ok! He’s got to be ok!” Jimin felt tears burning behind his eyes but Yoongi didn’t stop advancing, and he didn’t stop retreating. 

    “Maybe optimism was a good thing in the Tresspasser’s realm, but here, it’ll get you killed. You need to think smart and think for yourself.” Yoongi’s voice was low and quiet but his words rang like fire alarms in Jimin’s head.

    “I can’t leave him, I _ won’t-“  _ Jimin was interrupted by his heel hitting the wall, followed by his back. He wanted to cave in on himself, and cry, and tell Yoongi to leave, but he couldn’t. It was all he could do to breathe, and look Yoongi in the eye.  He didn’t notice the tears streaming down his face until he watched Yoongi’s eyes flicker to his cheeks, then settle on watching one tear stream from the corner of his eye, until it was lost under his jawline. Neither said anything, neither knew how long they stood there, they just stood there, Jimin staring at Yoongi’s eyes, and Yoongi staring at Jimin’s tears. 

    “.... We’ll go to the Fairy region in the morning-“ Jimin opened his mouth to protest but Yoongi persisted. “We’ll wait for your friend and decide what to do from there if he doesn’t come. Get some rest, it’s a long and dangerous journey.” 

    Jimin attempted to look down but he almost hit Yoongi’s face with his forehead, he thought Yoongi would lean away to permit his timidness, but he didn’t so Jimin looked back up again after doing some really awkward nodding motion. He blushed from being painfully aware of his own awkwardness, and timidness, and speechlessness combined. He was forced to look into the older’s eyes by their proximity. 

    “Thank you hyung,” he said quietly. Again they were both shocked by his choice of words.  _ Why did I say that? Why the fuck did I say that? What in God’s name made me say that?  _ Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, the stress, Yoongi being terrifyingly close… 

    Yoongi’s face was difficult to read considering the moonlight behind him being the only source of light in the room. Jimin could’ve sworn he saw the pale expanse of the older’s cheeks turn a fair pink. 

    “I’ll leave you to rest,” Yoongi turned away, it seemed like a conscious choice to keep his back to the moon. “don’t jump out that window.” He chanced a glance towards the light, Jimin’s eyes followed the older’s face revealing that his cheeks had, in fact, turned pink. Yoongi’s ears pulled back when he noticed the other staring. He opened his mouth to say something, Jimin didn’t notice his own brow raising in expectation, nor did he notice his eyes dropping when Yoongi decided against saying anything other than “sleep well,” before nearly running out the door. 

    Jimin didn’t know how long he stood there, trying to process all that had happened since the other made his presence known… in his room  _ and _ in the forest when Yoongi saved him. His eyes fell on the clothes laid at the foot of his bed, he was made painfully aware of his bare chest again. Jimin finally found the strength to push himself away from the wall that he had clung to for dear life and dress himself in the soft fabric, Jiyoo had obviously chosen for him, considering the back of the shirt draping down to his lower back. He didn’t mind this as much, it actually made his movements feel a little more free. 

    With that, he climbed back into his bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. The bed was huge, too big for someone as small as Jimin, and too cold. Regardless, the exhaustion from his day swept over him in one strong wave and knocked him out cold. He was finally completely at rest, knowing he wouldn’t have to escape, nor fear the werewolves. Why his fears of the werewolves no longer controlled his thoughts, he didn’t know… but he was thankful. 

    Jimin woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning and sat up slowly. It took him a long moment to remember where he was and what had happened. At first he thought he was kidnapped, then hungover, then very strangely and conveniently lost in the most comfortable bed his body had ever touched. He didn’t know if he was allowed to leave his room, would the werewolves assume that he was attempting to escape and attack him? He climbed out of bed and felt a brisk wave of air graze his back. He then turned to see the open window and the arrow stuck into the wooden floor. A shiver ran down his exposed spine. Jimin turned to the door, maybe he wouldn’t be hurt for just peeking into the hallway, maybe he could just catch a glimpse of Yoongi and follow him around, until they inevitably embark on their journey. He slowly pushed the door open with an inconvenient creek, he paused to hear footsteps, apparently his disturbance had gone unnoticed. He peeked out into the hallway to see nothing, no one. He now noticed the sounds that had drowned out his disturbance. 

    A piano. Faint music came from the end of the hallway and pulled Jimin closer on instinct. He didn’t resist. His feet seemed to move on their own, leading him towards the source of the music, tip toeing turned into a light trot. He turned the corner of the hallway, the music grew louder, closer. Jimin didn’t notice that he had broken out into a run until a strong arm reached out and caught him around his waist, pulling him into a room supplementarily more extravagant than his room. He never thought there could be a bed as large as the one that flashed in front of his eyes before the King stood in his way. He pressed a finger to his own lips and Jimin understood. He still feared Hoseok but somehow understood that the older wouldn’t hurt him, a grin played across the king’s strong features. He grabbed Jimin’s hand and lead him towards a painting, hanging not too far off the floor. Hoseok took his free hand to pull the painting back like a door. The music grew significantly louder. Jimin turned his gaze from the king to a pitch black tunnel, just tall enough for Hoseok and just wide enough for the two of them to squeeze in side by side. Hoseok disregarded the opportunity to walk side-by-side and decided to drag Jimin through the tunnel. Hoseok was only power walking but Jimin was forced into an awkward jog as he followed closely behind. Jimin couldn’t see anything until he looked back to see the light of the room falling away from them, but the sound of the piano grew closer every step, it calmed him. Either Hoseok had this path memorized, or he could see in the dark due to being a werewolf. Jimin chose the latter to be true. He turned his eyes to the path ahead, not that it made much difference, until a dull silver light came into view. 

    His heart stuttered, he knew this was the source of the music, he didn’t know what he expected. It surely wasn’t a set of jet black ears protruding from unkempt mint green hair. His jet black tail would have blended in with his black, silk pajamas if it weren’t for the contrast in texture. Jimin couldn’t see Yoongi’s hands yet he knew it was Yoongi who was playing the grand instrument. His body swayed as if anticipating the movement of his own hands. His head pulled back lazily just as though he was playing his own lullaby. Jimin was captivated, by the sound of the music, the vision that was the grand piano, Yoongi calmly dancing to the melody. Hoseok had stepped aside to give Jimin a better view and didn’t stop him when he subconsciously stepped closer. Jimin didn’t realize that he was walking closer until he could see the older’s face. Yoongi’s eyes had fallen shut while his lips parted slightly, somehow he still managed to pout. The music stopped, Jimin didn’t notice. 

    “Hoseok why are you-“ Yoongi’s eyes opened only slightly then shot wide open at the sight of a flustered Jimin. “How did you get in here?” He didn’t seem to be angry, only confused. 

    “Hoseok hyung, he showed me the way.” Jimin pointed to the empty doorway. He blinked dumbly for a moment. “I swear I-“

    “I believe you, have you eaten?” Yoongi asked calmly. Jimin was slightly shocked by the nonchalant change of subject but didn’t take long to recover. 

    “Well no… I just woke up so...”  Jimin ran a hand through his hair, he now realized to be just as unkempt as the older’s. 

    “Alright, I’m sure breakfast will be ready soon.” Jimin wanted to ask him to keep playing instead but his opportunity was quickly taken by Yoongi’s words. “We should go.”

_ Please just one more song.  _ Jimin knew that after today they probably wouldn’t come across a random piano on their journey, so this had to be his last chance to hear the other play.  _ Please just one more song.  _ He watched helplessly as the werewolf delicately folded the lid over the keys and stood up. 

    “Do you like kimchi?” His voice was slightly husky and monotonous from the lack of use. Jimin wondered how long Yoongi sat, playing the piano, before he was ruefully interrupted.

    “Yes,” Jimin began to follow Yoongi towards the dark tunnel. 

    “Good, you’ll eat a lot of that here.” Jimin watched a gummy smile stretch across the other’s sleepy face. Jimin still didn’t want to eat until he found his friend. He was too worried to spend time on such things, but for now, he followed Yoongi regardless of his own thoughts. Maybe he wouldn’t notice if Jimin didn’t eat anything. 

    Jimin tried not to notice the werewolf’s flinch, when he grabbed a small bit of the back of his sleeve, before entering the pitch black tunnel. He tried not to notice the jet black ears pulling back for just a moment, only to return to their natural state. He didn’t mean to annoy the other but he couldn’t see in the darkness and it appeared that Yoongi knew what he was doing. 

    Hoseok was still nowhere to be found when they emerged on the other side of the tunnel. Jimin wondered if he had to silently sprint to vanish so quickly. Jimin forgot that he no longer needed to hold onto the werewolf, Yoongi didn’t seem to mind now though, he simply placed both hands in his pockets and lead the other out into the hallway. Hoseok was still nowhere to be seen. 

    They walked through the halls in a silence that had become comfortable for both, Jimin’s eyes didn’t linger on the windows when they walked this time. His eyes roamed from the windows, to the artwork on the ceiling, to each unique door they passed, to Yoongi who watched him with curiosity and content. 

    Once he realized that he had the younger’s attention, he felt like he needed to say something, “You’re not plotting another escape are you?” He smiled weakly as if it were a joke instead of a lingering fear.  _ Well shit, that’s not what I thought I was gonna say… _

    “Oh no I-“ Jimin responded a little too quickly for his mouth to catch the words from him brain. He slowed down this time, “no, I trust what you said last night.” He felt a tightness in his chest from remembering last night’s events. Flashes of Yoongi’s face a foot from his own, the feeling of being thrown to the floor, the vision of Yoongi throwing an arrow into the floor beside himself graced Jimin’s mind. Yoongi’s smile returned, his fear diminished slightly.

    “Thank you,” he said softly. Jimin wanted to ask why the werewolf wanted to help him get home so bad, but for whatever reason, he decided now was not the time. 

    They entered the dining hall together to find an overly content Hoseok, eyeing both of them mischievously. 

   “Sorry I disappeared on you Jimin, I could smell the bacon a mile away.” He motioned to the wildly colorful spread in front of him. He sat in a throne-like chair at the farthest end of the longest table, with colorful fruits, and meats, and many other dishes stretching across a third of the table in front of him. 

    This display reminded Jimin of Hoseok’s role as king, “it’s alright, Your Majesty.” He bowed while Yoongi stopped beside him, patiently waiting.

    “I thought we agreed that there was no need for you to call me that.” Hoseok took a sip from a golden chalice. 

    “Oh sorry,” Jimin straightened back up again, Yoongi waited patiently for Jimin before proceeding to his seat at the right hand of the King. Jimin followed closely and sat down beside Yoongi.

     “Stop patronizing him, Hyung.” Yoongi took a pair of chopsticks and began shoveling kimchi into a bowl. 

     “I’ll have as much fun as I want today, you’ll be leaving soon right?” Yoongi handed the bowl to Jimin without breaking eye contact with the king. Jimin accepted it with a ‘thank you’ then decided to eat while the others talked. He didn't understand how werewolves were so forward, so blunt. 

    “Yeah, also Hyung, I might not be back for a while again.” 

    “Is that so?” 

    “Yes, we’ll be staying in the Fairy region for a month or two, then I’ll return home, after he does.” Yoongi gave a reassuring nod to Jimin, who had already filled his mouth with kimchi and bread. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast at Taehyung’s House yesterday… it felt like months ago now. Though his anxiety for the other’s safety was pressing at his chest, he couldn’t ignore the calls of his stomach. 

    “ _ Both  _ of you? In the Fairy region?” Hoseok sounded more concerned than mischievous, this was certainly out of character. “Yoongi-“

    “I’ll return home after he does,” Yoongi needlessly repeated, Jimin didn’t understand how or why he would take such a tone of finality with the king, but Hoseok seemed to accept this as an answer. Is there something wrong with the Fairy region? 

    “I wish you could stay longer Jimin, but I understand that you’re not safe here in the Werewolf Kingdom.” Hoseok turned his gaze to Jimin. 

    “Thanks for understanding, Hyung. Your kingdom is very beautiful,” Jimin definitely wasn’t lying just to please the king. His kingdom was truly beautiful, like nothing he had ever seen back in his own realm. He wished he could’ve spent more time here to take in the scenery instead of hyperventilating and panicking. But at the time, it seemed like the only thing he could do. 

    “Thank you, that means a lot coming from a trespasser, I’ve never had any live long enough to see my castle.” Hoseok smiles brightly, Jimin wondered for a moment just how many humans died here. “Well I should go make arrangements for your transportation, I’ll see you two soon.” Hoseok stood up and left them to finish breakfast alone. It took Yoongi a while to convince Jimin that leaving the food on the table would be ok. 

    (“But wouldn’t that be rude?” “No, they know we’re not gonna eat all this,” “Then why would they make all this?”) 

    Eventually he dragged Jimin out of the dining hall and in a familiar direction, Jiyoo’s chamber. 

    “Jiyoo-noona, we’re about to leave.” Yoongi called as he entered. 

    “Ahhh did you bring the lovely fairy with you?” She approached them gracefully. 

    “Yes Noona,” Yoongi’s gummy smile stretched across his face again. Jimin waved graciously at the familiar face, coming close to greet him. 

    “Wonderful, I’ve put something together for your journey.” Jiyoo pressed an ensemble to each boy’s chest. They both reacted in sync, taking the garments into their arms, then turning their gazes to Jiyoo again. “Well do I have to dress you too?” She folded her arms across her chest.

    “Oh no, thank you Jiyoo Noona.” Jimin stumbled with his pile of clothes for a moment before making his way to the room he had just used yesterday. Yoongi nodded graciously then turned to find his own room. 

    When Jimin saw himself in the mirror, he wondered just how intense this journey would get. The soft fabric and vibrant colors of his last ensemble had been replaced by rough, durable, and dark material. The material was tightly stretched across his torso and up his neck, leaving barely any skin uncovered, contrasting Jiyoo’s choices for him earlier. Thankfully the material stretched, allowing him full range of motion. His pants were loose with many pockets and void of holes, this felt unnatural. Jimin ran his fingers through his hair, it fell lazily against his forehead as his eyes fell on Yoongi. Dull, dark greens and black covered his body from neck to shoes as well. The same durable, black material stretched across Yoongi’s torso, he was tucking dog tags into a pocket, on his pants, as he approached Jimin. Maybe it was living in such a fast pace and intense environment that molded his body into what it was now. Jimin was thankful for the werewolf’s preoccupation, the younger couldn’t help but watch the fabric cling to his slim waist as he walked closer. 

   “I meant to ask earlier, do you have experience in using any weapons? You might need it.” Yoongi’s voice went unheard. Jimin was still staring. 

_Wait did he say something? Shit he asked_ _something, this is gonna be awkward._ “What?” Jimin snapped his eyes up to meet the werewolf’s piercing gaze. 

   “Do you feel confident in using any weapons?” Yoongi asked again patiently. Jimin wondered for a moment how aggressive the Vampires would be.

    “Oh um… yeah, I’ve done sword fighting for  _ years _ . I’ve never had to actually  _ kill  _ anyone though.” Jimin had begun learning to use the weapons as a boy, but he never intended to use the talent for anything more than demonstrations. 

    “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you don’t have to, but if you can defend yourself it’d put my mind at ease. As much as it could be in the Vampire region anyway,” werewolves must not understand personal space, because Jimin often found himself stood less than a meter from Yoongi’s face. The werewolf’s eyes were soft and kind, but intense, especially this close. 

     “Right, I’ll do my best.” Jimin nodded shyly causing Yoongi to emit a small smile before leading him further into Jiyoo’s chamber. She met them just before a door, painted bright red, in likeness to the rest of the vibrant and lively decor. 

    “You look beautiful, kitten.” Jimin followed her eyes to Yoongi. He certainly didn’t understand the fond nickname, as Yoongi did. He was a wolf, shouldn’t he be compared to a puppy? Jimin disregarded the strange choice of words for now, Jiyoo had caught his attention by pushing the red door open. 

    The interior of this room was just what he expected to see when he walked into the throne room of the grand castle. Blood red floors, black walls, lined with various weapons, some he didn’t even recognize. Yoongi remained unbothered, knowing exactly where he kept his bow, quiver, daggers, and throwing knives. He calmly wrapped his weapons belt around his waist, attaching the diverse selection of weapons on his belt and slinging the strap of his quiver around his chest. Jimin stayed in the doorway, shifting his weight from his toes to his heels.

_ What the fuck am I supposed to do with this shit?  _ His eyes scanned the displays of weapons, covering every wall. 

    “Hey Jimin,” the younger quickly snapped his attention to Yoongi, who pointed at two beautiful blades, set just above his head on the wall. The swords he had used in training weren’t nearly as extravagant, he wondered it they’d be too heavy. Jimin joined Yoongi by his side and took one of the blades into his hands. It felt heavier than the swords he fought with from home, the blade seemed to be forged from pure silver, the hilts had writing in a foreign language to him, engraved in red on the black leather. 

    “What does it say?” Jimin was so engrossed in the sword that he hadn’t noticed Yoongi taking down the other. The werewolf guided Jimin’s sword so the butt of the hilts would touch, the words seemed to flow together, from one hilt to the other. 

Yoongi spoke in his native tongue while he traced his finger from his sword to Jimin’s, it was a beautiful language, if only the younger could understand. 

    “I don’t know if I can find the right words in Korean but essentially it means: loyalty to the King within the kingdom, loyalty to your brothers within the battle.” Yoongi explained, Jimin’s eyes were focused on the words in red while Yoongi searches his profile for any reaction. Jimin’s eyes softened. 

    “I’ll use these,” He turned his gaze from the swords to Yoongi again. 

    “ _ Both  _ of them?” Yoongi seemed to be taken aback by his sudden outburst of confidence. 

    “They’re a set aren’t they?” 

    “Well yeah, it’s just… aren’t they heavy?” 

    “No, not at all. Two swords are better than one right?” Jimin smiled brightly, maybe if he could defend himself successfully, he could make it to the Fairy Region just in time to catch Taehyung, who was surely on his way there by now. 

    They left Jiyoo’s chamber with a sorrowful goodbye from Jiyoo, and an assortment of weapons to protect themselves. Yoongi led Jimin out into the courtyard again where they met Hoseok and a carriage similar to the last. 

    “I wish I could come with you to the border, but I’m afraid, I have political business to attend to.” Hoseok approached them with open arms, hugging Yoongi first, but the mint hair one pulled back to look his friend in the eye.

    “Without me?” Yoongi looked more worried than offended.

    “Don’t worry about me Yoon Yoon, I won’t be accepting any challenges to the throne on account of my highest advisor’s absence.” Hoseok braced his friend’s arms before stepping back again.

    “I’m not worried about  _ you,  _ Hyung…” A sly smirk played across Yoongi’s features.

    “When will you let that go, you brat?” Hoseok pouted while Jimin was, again, completely lost.

    “I had to lead an entire tribe, by myself, for 3 moons until they found a new chief!” Yoongi exclaimed with a gummy smile and a squeaky laugh. 

    “He pissed me off on purpose and you saw it!” Hoseok yelled right back while Yoongi still laughed.

    “Please don’t unnecessarily kill anyone while I’m away, Hyung.” Yoongi smiled brightly, Hoseok nodded, then pulled him into another hug. 

    “It was nice to meet you Jimin, if you ever get the chance to return, you’ll always have a place here in the castle.” Hoseok pulled Jimin into a firm but friendly embrace. 

    Jimin didn’t feel safe in this realm, he felt like if he left Yoongi’s side, he’d be killed in a second. There’s no way that he’d take Hoseok up on this offer. Ever. Regardless, Jimin bit back his grimace and smiled.

    “Thank you, Hoseok Hyung.” Jimin bowed before turning to Yoongi. “I’ll be in the carriage,” He said, Yoongi began to follow but Hoseok caught him by the arm. 

    “He’ll catch up,” Hoseok smiled kindly at Jimin once again. Jimin nodded with a lingering look at Yoongi before descending the stairs and boarding the silky black carriage. “Yoongi, what the hell are you thinking?” He whipped the younger around to face him.

    “All I need to do is get Jimin into the Fairy region, alright? If I stay on the very border then they won’t try to take me.” Yoongi explained as if it were a simple task.

    “But when they see you with a trespasser, they’ll immediately assume-“

    “I’ll run, I’ll leave Jimin with them, where he’ll be safe then run back into the Vampire region, where I’ll be safe… relatively.” Yoongi interjected.

    Hoseok pulled Yoongi closer by the back of his neck, so their foreheads collided, “I can't trust anyone else here, you’re my closest friend Yoongi, I can’t rule without you. Please come home safe,” he whispered so only Yoongi could hear. 

    “Postpone any efforts of war between the tribes until I return, don’t let any of the chiefs into the castle. Understand?” Yoongi also whispered, eyeing one of the guards standing too close for his own comfort.

    “Yes, don’t take your time.” Hoseok let his friend go, Yoongi bowed. 

    “On my honor, your majesty.” He spoke loudly now, for all the surrounding guards to hear. 

    “Now go, you brat… your boyfriend is waiting.” He added with a smirk. Yoongi snapped back up to full height. 

    “Hyung!!” 

    “Go!” Hoseok shooed him away, and with a trademark pout, Yoongi complied. Turning away and descending the grand stairs, he slid into the carriage beside Jimin, who offered a kind smile as the door closed behind him. 

    “You guys are really close aren’t you?” Jimin waved at Hoseok as the carriage began to pick up pace. 

    “It’s a long story, but… I’m the only one he can trust now.” Yoongi met the other’s eyes with a sad smile. Jimin decided to leave it at that, considering the subject to be sensitive for the werewolf. Instead, he settled into his seat and watched the scenery pass as they grew closer and closer to the borders of the Vampire region. 

    If he didn’t feel safe here, he was surely in for a rude awakening in the Vampire region.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you catch the hints? I’m thinking this is foreshadowing a... series???? It’d probably be only a second book BUT I’m really liking how this is going! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing this. Love you army!! Fighting <3


	9. The Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jungkook is adamant on staying quietly in his cell for the purpose of science while Taehyung is still determined in his attempts to leave. However, it seems impossible for both of them to survive if both had their way.

    Taehyung woke up to see that Jungkook had returned to his own cell. How he got away from his subconscious deathgrip, he didn’t know. Regardless, he walked over to the bars and stuck his legs out for the other to notice. Jungkook quickly stood up to join him.

    “Good morning,” he stuck his legs through the bars and allowed their feet to touch in the middle.

    “Morning,” Taehyung had decided to yield in his attempts at getting Jungkook to escape with him for another day. For now he was simply attempting to plot his own escape in his head... with a related question for Jungkook periodically intruding on their conversations.

   “Do they have cameras?” He asked bluntly.   
    “What’s a cameras?” Jungkook lay motionless on his back, tapping his toes against Taehyung’s.   
    “Well that answers  _ that _ question.” Taehyung laughed, a boxy grin graced his lips. Jungkook turned his head slightly to find the source of the other’s laughter, before he realized it was himself. This made Jungkook smile too, he didn’t understand what he did to make Taehyung laugh but seeing the older’s smile brought warmth. A warmth he wished could spread to the cold metal floor.    
    “What’s that?” Taehyung pointed at a small gate on the higher part of the wall in to his right.   
    “An air vent,” Jungkook glanced at where the older pointed for only a moment before returning to his rest.   
    “Industrial size?” Taehyung wiggled his brows deviously. Jungkook sat up to give him an incredulous look for the umpteenth time by now.   
    “You can’t possibly be expecting to fit...” His statement sounded more like a question, a question easily answered by his friend.   
    “My best friend Jimin and I,” his heart tightened at the name, he must be so worried for him by now, maybe he’s still diligently searching for him in the forest, maybe he’s given up and started mourning... “we used to get into so much trouble crawling through these... maybe I could get  _ out _ of trouble this way too...”    
    “Well then, they could take you out of the building, you’d still have to find a way across the courtyard though.” Jungkook nodded, admitting Taehyung to let out an animated groan.   
    “The courtyard??” He repeated with a petulant pout.   
    “It’s only an 800 meter sprint to the wall.”    
    “A wall??” Taehyung fell onto his back dramatically so he was laying like Jungkook was a moment ago.   
    “5 meters high, 2 meters thick. You’ll have to climb it.” Jungkook almost laughed when Taehyung threw his hand over his forehead and rolled backwards, away from the bars. He managed to repress his laughter into a small smile.   
    “I bet  _ you _ could just breathe through it...” Jungkook couldn’t see the older pouting but he could certainly hear it when he spoke.    
    “I  _ could _ , but it’d be incredibly-“ his words were cut off. 

    He thought the suited men weren’t supposed to come in for another week. He was proven wrong when they flooded into the room and proceeded into Taehyung’s cell. 

    “What are you doing here?” Jungkook asked almost to only himself as he stood to his feet.    
    Taehyung wasn’t allowed the luxury of standing, before he could even sit up properly he was shoved backward. His head collided painfully with the cold metal forcing a pained cry from his lips. Jungkook scrambled for the door and attempted to whip the door open but it on rattled, the melted lock had been replaced. He had only fallen asleep for a couple hours after he returned to his own cell. 

    How did they know?

    They knew, and this was all his fault. Watching helplessly made Jungkook feel something he’d never felt before, it was powerful enough to hold him completely still yet he was shaking. His hands clutched the bars that he held his face so close to, while the rest of his muscles proved useless, he wasn’t even sure if he was breathing. “Let him go!! You’re not supposed to be here!!” 

    His words were drowned out by another gut wrenching scream from Taehyung when they stabbed a long needle into the vein of the crease in his elbow without finesse or regard for his pain tolerance. Jungkook couldn’t see his arm, he only saw the needle and heard the scream. His mind immediately went to the worst. 

    “Taehyung!!” He practically ripped the bars from where they stood, fire slipping past his lips but it didn’t reach the excessive amount of people holding Taehyung down, unfortunately. He had fallen to his knees, he was shaking, his vision went blurry for a moment. As if they hadn’t caused enough pain, the man holding his head tilted it roughly so another could stab a syringe into the lower muscles of his neck. 

    Taehyung could only wince, he was too drained now to possibly make a sound any louder. His voice was sore, his arm was left bleeding, and he quickly recognized what they injected into his neck again. Just as quickly as they came, they left. Both of them were left heaving heavy breaths. Taehyung turned on his side, away from Jungkook and caved in on himself, cradling his arm that still bled into his shirt.    
    “What the hell was that for?” He let out a choked sob. Jungkook’s eyes were trained on the older, he didn’t even notice the metal bars melting away from his hands. When he felt his own fingers touch his palm he looked down and realized. The adrenaline was too intense for him to sit there in shock now, he pushed his hands down against the bars and melted them to the floor. He crawled through the opening he made for himself, unaffected by the heat of the liquified iron. He then did a similar thing to Taehyung’s bars but the older didn’t hear. Jungkook now ran to Taehyung’s side, this was all his fault. He reached out a hand to calm the older but stopped himself, hovering over his shaking form.    
_ I can’t _ ... he hesitated before pulling his hand back and tucking both his hands into his pockets. He knelt down beside the older and did the only thing he could think of, to silently assure Taehyung of his presence. He rested his forehead in the curve of Taehyung’s waist. Taehyung gave a heartbreaking jump before another wave of pain struck his muscles. He curled in on himself a little more.

    “Is that you?” He asked quietly.   
    “I’m here,” Jungkook let out a silent tear that sunk into Taehyung’s shirt. The older seemed satisfied enough with his response and returned to silently allowing his tears to fall to the floor.    
Jungkook had every intention of sitting here for hours, as long as Taehyung needed to, and setting aflame anyone who came to separate them. He’s never going back to his own cell. Not alive anyway.

    Neither knew how long they sat there before Taehyung’s breathing became controlled and then calm. Jungkook finally spoke up.   
    “I’m getting you out of here,” he spoke almost too quietly to be heard, Taehyung must have heard him, for he sat up suddenly to stare at him. Jungkook was now painfully aware of their proximity, if he let even a small huff of fire from his nose, he could seriously burn the other’s face. Maybe this was why he stood up so suddenly and took a small step away.    
    “What happened to your moral obligation to science?” The spite in Taehyung’s tone made the younger run his fingers through his hair as an excuse to avoid eye contact.    
    “You shouldn’t have to go through this, this wasn’t your choice.” Taehyung furrowed his brow, before he accepted Jungkook’s answer. He demonstrated this by reaching out a hand with a small nod. Jungkook knew he was supposed to take it, to help him up, to display their understanding but he couldn’t. “We should go...” he kept his hands firmly in his pockets and turned towards the air vent. Taehyung raised a curious brow before standing up on his own.

    It was finally time to put Taehyung’s flimsy escape plan into effect. 

    Apparently being a dragon gave Jungkook inhuman strength, as he displayed by effortlessly jumping up and pulling the gate of the air vent from its place. 

    “Follow me,” Jungkook hopped up and pulled himself into the vents, then crawled forwards to admit Taehyung access. When Taehyung hopped up, he was only using one hand to pull himself in, Jungkook disregarded his anxieties to grab Taehyung’s arm and pull him inside, revealing his other arm, lugging the gate behind him. 

    “Can you weld this back into place?” Taehyung held it over the opening before Jungkook nodded. It was a tight squeeze, switching spots in the industrial sized vents but Taehyung was used to it from his adventures. Jungkook emitted a tiny blue flame from his finger tip then pressed it to each corner, turning back to the older when he had finished, Taehyung moved aside, offering the younger the lead again. 

    Together they silently crawled through the vents, luckily not making a sound. Taehyung was beyond thankful to have Jungkook leading the way at each intersection or fork in the ventilation system. There was a silent understanding that surely the scientists beneath them could hear if they made a sound, so neither attempted to communicate through words until they reached a curve in the vents, going down. 

    “It’s going to be hard for us to stay unnoticed after this… are you’re ready?” Jungkook turned back to watch Taehyung’s face intently. 

    Taehyung wasn’t ready, he had great stamina and was used to getting out of trouble but he wasn’t used to human-like creatures that could breathe fire at him. He wasn’t ready. 

    “Yeah,” Taehyung nodded in spite of every fucking nerve in his body. Jungkook nodded then pressed his hands firmly against the metal beneath his hands. It began to melt. Before long, a large hole had formed and Jungkook dropped through silently. It was dark outside, Taehyung swiftly followed. They were hidden between the wall of the laboratory and the large air conditioning unit. 

    “Please stay close but be aware of my… breathing, if things get rough.” Jungkook whispered almost inaudibly but Taehyung heard, answering with a nod. 

    Jungkook turned to peek around the unit and to his surprise there were only 6 guards in his way, surely more would come for backup once he had made a disturbance though… he ducked back behind the unit, only to come nose to nose with Taehyung. Jungkook frantically backed away on instinct but only kicked the air conditioning unit instead. The guards had surely heard that. Jungkook pulled Taehyung into himself with one hand and with the other, grew a massive fireball. He launched the ball of flames in a random direction far away from them, causing the guards to run to the explosion and begin putting it out. 

    “Run to the wall, don’t stop!” Jungkook whispered before shoving Taehyung out from behind the unit, none of the guards noticed him until he did as he was told. He ran towards the wall swiftly pursued by Jungkook, who laid cover fire in the older’s wake. Taehyung ran as fast as he could but out of the corner of his eye he watched a dangerous fireball growing closer. He didn’t stop, he waited until he could feel the heat then he dove forward, rolling back to his feet and then continuing his pursuit of the wall. He noticed a lack of cover fire. 

    Oh shit. Taehyung blatantly disobeyed orders to turn on his heal and find Jungkook, locked in a battle with a guard who had found himself close enough for hand to hand combat. Taehyung didn’t know if he  _ could  _ help considering the sporadic burst of fire emitting from the two but he couldn’t just watch. He sprinted towards the fight but he was intercepted, a massive guard tackled him and rolled atop of him, grabbing both his forearms. The impact knocked the wind out of him, he tried to call out for help but no air came out of his lungs to carry his words. His eyes grew wide as saucers, watching the guard laugh maliciously atop of him. The guard turned his head to the sky and let out a victorious burst of fire from his lips. Taehyung jumped and struggled to free himself from the man’s immense weight, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t even get Jungkook’s name out of his mouth if he tried. And he tried. He looked like a fish out of water, struggling and gasping for air, gasping for words, just one word was all he needed, one name. He couldn’t breathe. 

    He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, an entire body flew at the guard and knocked him to the side, off of Taehyung. It was the guard Jungkook was fighting.

    “Go! Go! Go!” Jungkook shouted as he threw a ring of fire around the guards and sprinted towards Taehyung, who didn’t think twice before rising to his feet and continuing his pursuit of the wall. They were almost there. It was only a couple yards away now. Jungkook ran ahead of Taehyung and slid to a stop before the wall. “Cover me!” He took a deep breath before roaring fire into the surface of the wall. 

    Taehyung didn’t hesitate to turn his back to Jungkook and raise his fists. He ran to meet his first victim, the guard slid to a stop and took a deep breath but it was too late. Taehyung was already spiraling in the air and roundhouse kicked him to the ground, one blow by the neck and he was asleep. Taehyung moved to the next victim. He ducked and rolled under a blast of fire from the man’s hand before leaping atop his back and hitting a pressure point on his neck, he fell into sleep. Next. 

    It continued on like this for longer than Taehyung thought his body could stand, he was surely only acting on adrenaline and survival instincts now.

    “Tae!” Jungkook seemed too breathless to call his full name, Taehyung turned to protect the younger but realized, the wall was open. A boxy, breathless, weak grin graced his features before he followed Jungkook through the hole. Unfortunately he wasn’t the only one pursuing the dragon boy. Taehyung chased Jungkook into the thick of the forest, where their pursuers began to disperse. “Come on!” Jungkook’s voice was still breathless and becoming weaker. 

    They ran, chased by only a few, deep into the forest. They began losing their pursuers one by one, twisting and turning amongst the trees, changing their course, until Taehyung was led to a river. They ran upstream until they found a beautiful waterfall. Jungkook didn’t hesitate to leap from the dirt, to a rock protruding from the rushing waters. He then jumped to another, and another until he leapt right though the rushing waters of the waterfall. Taehyung trusted Jungkook, he didn’t slow down, he followed the same path and reached the other side soaking wet but alive. Jungkook was heaving heavy breaths, his footing was unsteady.

    “We’ll be-“ he stumbled, Taehyung lunged forwards to catch him but was unneeded, “we’ll be safe here,” again the younger stumbled, his eyes fluttered shut and he fell forwards into Taehyung’s arms. He had fainted from the exhaustion. Surely using his powers so much had caused this. Taehyung lowered Jungkook to the ground where he hugged the other’s body close to his chest. Jungkook’s pulse was still fast, the water from the waterfall had done little to cool him down. He needed rest. 

    “Thank you Jungkookie, I’ll take care of you now.” Taehyung whispered into the boy’s wet hair. He then lowered Jungkook’s head to the ground and stood up, he had some work to do. 

    Jungkook woke up with a start, he momentarily forgot about the events of last night so seeing the cave, closed off by a waterfall was strange. As the memories came back he realized, he was completely warm, and dry. Even his clothes, completely warm, and dry. A fire pit in front of him still emitted light and warmth, he wondered how long he had been asleep. He began to sit up but a pair of arms wrapped firmly around his waist stopped him. He twisted awkwardly to find Taehyung, holding onto him for warmth but still shivering. His heart tightened. It took finesse to wiggle out of Taehyung’s arms just enough to gain mobility, once Jungkook could, he wrapped his own arms around the older, clenching his hands into fists so as not to accidentally burn him. Slowly, gently, he rolled the older over himself and placed his back closer to the fire. Taehyung didn’t fidget nor make a sound, he must have been in a deep sleep. Jungkook was content with this, and began to stand up, maybe to find breakfast, or which direction they should be traveling in, but the arms around his lower back tightened. He couldn’t wiggle out of Taehyung’s grip this time, and he definitely didn’t want to wake the older after all he had obviously done for him. So with a defeated sigh he settled back down, placing his forearms between their faces, then he forced his eyes shut, in an attempt to fall back into sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for not updating consistently, recently a lot of shit has gone down irl and I’ve had issues with writters block. But I’ve gotten through it now and I’m ready to continue in this journey with you! I purple you armies!! Fighting <3


	10. The Vampire Region

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoongi must travel across the Vampire region and has vowed to himself to protect Jimin’s innocence, though everything he sees torments him about the war. Jimin just wants to help.

    It was peaceful, watching the Werewolf Kingdom fade into the city, then into the villages. The houses became more spread out in the farming villages, until Jimin could only watch the trees as they passed, regardless, its was a beautiful path. An overhanging of shrubbery only allowed streams of light to penetrate the tunnel, constructed by nature. Finally they reached a clearing and the sunlight pierced through the overhanging shrubbery in a way that made Jimin audibly gasp and smile at the simple wonder that was a field of weeds and green grass, illuminated by the sun’s warmth. He didn’t notice the warm smile growing across Yoongi’s face as he watched the younger with freely displayed amusement. 

    “What are you seeing that’s so exciting?” Yoongi had turned away from his own window completely and pulled his knees to his chest with his feet settling between himself and Jimin, who didn’t hesitate to respond.

    “It’s just so beautiful, I can’t really explain why it’s just… I could stare for hours.” Jimin didn’t take long to return his gaze to the scenery outside his window. Yoongi was content with hearing his answer, how gentle the Tresspasser’s realm must have been, for Jimin to have kept so much innocence, so much gentle wonder. 

    Yoongi wondered if it could have been different, if they had met in Jimin’s realm, maybe Yoongi could still be soft and innocent too. Maybe he never would have had to kill and become the vicious beast his people knew to be today. He knew that there was never any other way, if he hadn’t defended the crown with no remorse, with reckless abandonment of his own morals, his friend would surely be dead, and he’d be forced to serve a bastard who didn’t deserve the burden that was the crown. But he still wondered, who he could have been if he had the option to act his own age and be consistently safe and happy. 

    “Have you ever felt that way?” Jimin’s soft voice pulled him from his thoughts, Yoongi didn’t follow. After a pause, Jimin turned to see what kept the older from responding. At the sight of a confused pout, he decided to elaborate, “Have you ever seen something so beautiful you could just stare for hours?” 

_ Yes, hell yes, fuck yes.  _ “Yeah,” Yoongi kept his voice steady and bordering indifference, in contrast to his emotions inside. 

    “What is it for you?” Jimin bounced in the seat as he turned back to Yoongi, who only stared. He stared for a long minute, scanning over every feature of the younger’s soft but strong features before responding.

    “The sunrise,” He answered, Jimin smiled brightly, Yoongi knew that his true answer didn’t even compare, but seeing to younger smile caused himself to smile in turn, regardless of his own regret for lying to the other.

    “Yeah, the sunrise makes me smile too.” Jimin returned his gaze to the scene outside, oblivious to the eyes still set on him. 

    Eventually the carriage came to a stop and Jimin gave Yoongi a curious look as if maybe he had all the answers. 

    Maybe not  _ all  _ the answers, but Yoongi knew this one, “We must be at the border,” Yoongi shrugged and Jimin nodded then turned to the door which was already opening, revealing the werewolf that had been at the reigns for so long now. Jimin smiled then reached to take the servant’s outstretched hand but Yoongi stepped over him and hopped out of the carriage first. Jimin was confused, this behavior was out of character from what he knew of the werewolf, but he pushed the first red flag aside and began to take the servant’s hand again. Before his hand could rest in the palm of the stranger’s another replaced it, Yoongi’s. Why was he acting so strange? Jimin pushes the thought to the back of his mind and took Yoongi’s hand, letting it guide him out of the carriage until an unfamiliar arm wrapped around his torso and pulled him away. His back collided with the other’s chest before the arm wrapped itself around Jimin’s upper arms and chest to hold him in place. The other arm held a sword to his throat for good measure. When his eyes found Yoongi again, the werewolf had already drawn an arrow to his bow and aimed it just above Jimin’s head. He could see the panic and swelling anger in Yoongi’s eyes, directed at the one holding a sword to Jimin’s throat.

    Yoongi spoke in his native tongue, “You let him go in the name of the King!” He would be shaking with anger but he knew better, Yoongi would control his feelings for a better chance of saving the human. 

     The other werewolf responded in the same language, “I don’t serve the King, nor you, nor him.” He cocked his head towards Jimin, who watched with alarmed confusion nearly blurring his vision. 

    “Yoongi?” He didn’t need to say more for the werewolf to understand, Yoongi’s eyes still didn’t stray from his target.

    “You’re ok, Jimin, you’re gonna be ok.” He spoke in Korean now to ease the rising turmoil in Jimin’s mind. 

    “At least he’ll die quickly with your pretty lies and pretty face being the last thing he knows.” The werewolf with the sword still spoke in his native tongue, though he obviously understood Korean, this was obviously an attempt to stress out the human all the more. 

    “You listen to me, if that sword so much as causes an abrasion on his skin, you will be so deformed when you return to the deepest circle of hell, from which you came, that they’ll create a whole new circle of hell for the gruesome creature you will be.” Yoongi continued to speak in native so Jimin wouldn’t have to hear what he truly was, a monster. The other werewolf had the nerve to laugh, he threw his head back in relentless but hollow laughter and Yoongi watched his grip on the sword lacken. 

    He didn’t hesitate. Yoongi release his grip on the arrow and that second, it was over. The sword fell to the ground followed by the werewolf, and then Jimin. 

    “Jimin!” Yoongi forgot his bow in the grass and rushed to his knees in front of Jimin, who had also fallen to his knees and braced himself upright with his arms. “Jimin, are you ok? I’m so sorry, I didn’t think I’d get another chance and I was reckless and I’m  _ so so  _ sorry, please tell me you’re ok.” Jimin didn’t say anything, which only fueled Yoongi’s anxiety. Jimin only allowed himself to fall forwards and rest his forehead on the other’s shoulder, pressing the side of his sweaty head against Yoongi’s neck. Yoongi was frozen, he could feel the rapid, erratic heartbeat in Jimin’s forehead but he was still terrified. Terrified that he failed, and Jimin got hurt before they even faced the real threat in the neighboring region. He slowly and cautiously reached up a hand to feel along Jimin’s neck for any blood. Jimin flinched at the touch but still didn’t move, he trusted Yoongi. Eventually he pulled his hand back and while it was damp from their sweat, there was no blood nor even a sign of abrasion, Yoongi let himself smile when he sighed in relief. “I’m sorry that happened to you, I tried to stop it, I really did.” Yoongi looked straight forward in an attempt to control his emotions, crying was a clear display of weakness, especially on the battlefield, and this was now a battlefield until he deemed it safe again. His breath hitched when he felt Jimin’s arms wrap around his waist. 

    “It wasn’t your fault Yoongi, don’t be so hard on yourself.” Yoongi felt the words mumbled into his chest rather than heard them, it was enough. They were ok, no one was physically hurt, though they were shaken, they had much worse to face soon. After a moment of peace and silence, Jimin spoke up again. “I assume the bastard didn’t take us to the border, so where are we?” 

    “We’re on the right path, I think I can get us there before sunset, we’ll have to be quick to make camp once we get there though.” Yoongi offered, ignoring the lingering disappointment when Jimin pulled away from him. Thank God there was no blood splatters on his face. 

    “Why can’t we just take the carriage right through the Vampire Region?” Jimin took Yoongi’s hand to help him stand up with him. 

    “That would draw too much attention to ourselves, we’ve got to be discreet to not attract the attention of the Vampire King.” Yoongi stepped over the corpse to open the door of the carriage again. 

    “Right, we should get going.” Jimin climbed up onto the driver’s seat. Yoongi didn’t argue, he could understand the other’s unwillingness to be alone now. So he shut the door and climbed up onto the bench beside Jimin and grabbed the reins. 

    The wind felt nice on his face, it was so warm outside and the corpse defacing the beauty of the field of flowers was far behind them now. Yoongi led them through another tunnel of trees with shrubbery shielding them from the harsh rays of the sun. Jimin felt as if he could reach up and touch the branches that hung low overhead. So he tried, Yoongi couldn’t help but take his eyes off the road ahead in favor of watching Jimin slowly stretch out a hand to graze the shrubbery above. Finally he touched one and while he was content with himself, he still pulled his hand away sharply, as if he weren’t prepared to actually succeed. Jimin looked down at his hand to check for scratches, but he was distracted by Yoongi’s gummy smile that had already turned back to the path ahead as he bounced with silent laughter. 

    “What?” Jimin quirked a brow as if challenging him to talk shit.

    “Are all Tresspassers as fascinated with trees as you?” Yoongi didn’t try to hide his smile nor the pink tint to his cheeks.

    “Not all of us, no. A lot of… Tresspassers don’t really respect nature in the same way.” Jimin seemed to be saddened by the thought while Yoongi was only confused. 

    “Oh, I guess I kind of thought that all Tresspassers were like you.” Yoongi pouted in thought. 

    “Like me?” Jimin prompted with curious eyes trained on Yoongi.

    “Yeah, just… you know, like you.” Yoongi couldn’t have explained the other if he wanted to. There was still so much that he didn’t even know, including something that he was especially curious about… “How did it feel? Going through the portal for your realm to mine, did it hurt?” Jimin giggled at the strange change in subject but welcomed it, regardless. 

    “It didn’t feel like anything really, honestly I couldn’t even tell that I  _ had  _ entered the portal, I just noticed that this was definitely not  _ my _ forest.” Jimin looked up and away as he recalled the memory. “Have you ever been through a portal before?” 

    “Yeah, some of the higher class Vampires are into some freaky demonic shit, and smaller group are powerful enough to summon twisted portals. They’re often used in war to confuse, separate, distort, or capture, but I fell into one once. It felt as if every limb and organ was ripped apart and warped around until it was all pieced together again. I didn’t have much time to recover from that feeling too. I was teleported far beyond enemy lines and I had to get back to my men quickly and alone.” Yoongi’s voice was low and monotonous as if recalling the memory cause his physical pain but he refused to show it. 

     “You’ve seen so much, is that why everyone respects you so much in the Kingdom?” Jimin asked, if it had been anyone else asking, Yoongi would have told them that it was ‘none of their damn business’ but somehow Jimin made him talk without even trying to pull such sensitive information from him.

     “That, and I’ve been the King’s best friend since before we knew he’d be King. I was second to know after him and I appointed myself his bodyguard. When I was young, he was attacked in his home. I killed all six rebels myself and was feared by the people ever since. If I had killed for anyone else I would have been executed, but because Hoseok was a Prince, I was honored for ‘viciously protecting him’ as his father said. I was formally given the title of his right hand man, appointed commander of my own militia to protect the royal family, and I was promised a share in the riches of the royal family for my relentless loyalty… however, a year ago, I failed. Hoseok’s father was killed by rebels in the night, forcing Hoseok into power… he was fucking seventeen, I was eighteen. After his coronation, he was weeping, he told me that he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t lead. I told him that we could, and we have, granted it’s only been three years but we’ve been surviving just fine.” Yoongi explained in detail and Jimin certainly wasn’t ready to hear such an in depth story of the other’s past. It was fascinating to learn so much but seeing how fast Yoongi had to grow up to be the man that he is now. It hurt. Jimin wondered if he ever had a sleepover with the intent of staying up all night and building pillow forts, surely he’s had at least one hot dog eating contest with his friends… 

    “Did you ever get to have a childhood? Like sleepovers, and birthday parties, and eating too much ice cream, and-“ 

    “I don’t think children are raised the same where you’re from. The Werewolf Kingdom while we  _ are _ in a fleeting time of peace now, is a constant warzone, whether it be between our own kind or neighboring regions, we are an aggressive people, we’ve never been good at negotiating or compromising. So from the time we can hold a weapon to the time we can take care of ourselves, whatever age that may be, we learn to fight. When we’re ready, we fight. That’s just how we’re designed to live,” Yoongi never spoke this much, he was slightly scared of the effect Jimin had on him. Suddenly he felt as if he could spill out, not only his own life story, but a whole history lesson on his people. Surely he had bored the other into sleep by now, he hated this feeling. Vulnerability was only something he ever shared with Hoseok, and that was because both friends had saved each other from and seen each other in near death experiences. He didn’t look at Jimin to check if he was still paying attention, deep down Yoongi still wanted him to be.

    “Wow, that’s very different from how humans raise their young…” Jimin nodded along, while Yoongi was startled by the other actually responding, Yoongi was curious about this new strange word.

    “Humans?” Yoongi repeated with apparent curiosity quirking his brow. Jimin giggled.

    “Yeah, it’s what we call ourselves,” He chimed.

    “Oh, so is ‘Tresspasser’ offensive? I’m sorry I didn’t know,” Yoongi glanced at Jimin’s face to find any sign of hurt or offense in his features but Jimin’s smile only grew brighter.

    “I don’t think it was offensive,” Jimin nodded in reassurance and Yoongi paused but nodded in return eventually, turning his gaze back to the path ahead. “Tell me more,” Jimin bounces closer and Yoongi simply looked at him, again he was perplexed, “about your culture and your history, oh! When did werewolves start hunting Tresspassers-“

    “Or humans,” Yoongi added, eliciting another beaming smile from Jimin.

    “Right,” 

    They spoke for hours about the differences between what they knew and the differences between each other's worlds. It was strange learning that they had so much in common despite living in different realities, it was a good strange. 

    Eventually Jimin spots a distinct line where the grass goes from green to gray, he didn’t expect the boundaries to be so abrupt. 

    “Is that it?” He could tell that the atmosphere was certainly darker on the other side, a shiver ran up his spine when Yoongi confirmed his suspicion.

    “Yes,” was all he said now. Suddenly the gentle, talkative, and friendly werewolf that he had grown to know melted away. Surely this was the Yoongi that killed six of his own kind to protect his friend. Jimin never wanted to kill but if he had to do the same to protect Yoongi, he knew that he would. 

    They hid the carriage in the thick of the trees, on their own side of the border, and approached in a mutually tense silence. Jimin was terrified of the unknown lying in the blatantly darker atmosphere while Yoongi knew all too well of the horrors awaiting them. 

    “Will it hurt?” Jimin toed the line in the grass, standing closer to the werewolf than he usually would. 

    “It’ll get colder,” Yoongi answered patiently. “Hold onto me if you need to,” He offered absentmindedly, he forgot to prepare himself for the possibility that Jimin would take him up on his offer. He couldn’t help himself from starling when Jimin took his hand, nor could he control the heat rising from his neck to his cheeks and ears. Jimin’s eyes were thankfully still focused on the grayer side of the border, he slowly stretched a foot over the distinct line. Jimin’s foot landed in the Vampire region, nothing happened. It was colder, as Yoongi had said, but for some reason, Jimin had expected to be ambushed by the Vampire King himself when he stepped over the border. The anticlimactic peace was maintained when Yoongi followed and stood on the other side with him now. Jimin took a moment to look around, there were no signs of life. 

    “Look Yoongi, the sun is setting.” When Jimin pointed it out, he saw it as a beautiful painting of oranges and pink hues. Yoongi didn’t share the same view.

    “Oh shit,” Yoongi didn’t let go of Jimin’s hand when he picked up his pace and scanned his surroundings with his eyes and ears to find either a threat or a cave. Jimin stumbled over himself before finding his balance and following close behind now. 

    “What’s wrong?” Jimin had already decided not to become worried unless Yoongi had become worried, since the older obviously knew more about their threats than he did. But it didn’t take long for the two of them to become anxious. 

    “They’re nocturnal creatures so we should find a cave fast, we can make ground in the day and rest in the night.” Yoongi still took long strides as his senses strained for any sign of shelter.

    “Don’t Vampires live in caves?” Jimin couldn’t help but remember all the movies that he had enjoyed as a child, disregarding the information from the Twilight series, assuming that source to be faulty. 

    “In ancient times, yes. Since then, they’ve evolved and are rarely ever seen even  _ near  _ caves. Considering that, I think caves will be our safest bet so long as we don’t make much noise. A bat’s hearing is exponentially better than my own.” Yoongi explained thoughtfully as he turned their path in a more specific direction.

    “Oh, do they still drink blood?” Jimin asked.

    “Yes, you won’t find many living creatures in this region, they’ve either migrated to safer territories or died off here.” Yoongi continued, he didn’t seem to mind Jimin’s immense lack of knowledge on the subject, he remained understanding and patient, though his anxiousness was blatantly obvious considering the death grip he had on Jimin’s hand. Jimin was grateful for the werewolf’s understanding.

     “Right… so do you think we’re the only living things in the forests that aren’t Vampires?” Jimin tried to hide the rising anxiousness in his voice, if Yoongi noticed, he didn’t say.  

    “We are, unless there’s someone else trying to pass through unnoticed.” He answered.

    “Oh…” Jimin tried to hold the underlying fear from his tone but he watched Yoongi’s ears pulling back again, he must have failed to be discreet. 

    Yoongi must have found a cave, how he could sense it with either his hearing or his smell, Jimin didn’t know. Regardless, he followed in silence to allow the other to focus on guiding them. As he was guided by Yoongi’s hand through the forest, he imagined gray paint tainting all the colors that painted the grass and the trees and the sky. His mind wandered back to the beauty that Yoongi called his home, the beauty Jimin had taken for granted. Everything and all the inhabitants of the werewolf kingdom seemed to be kept healthy and safe. He missed the elegance that was the king’s vibrant and strong castle… and also the vibrant and strong king, though Jimin didn’t express his gratitude enough, Hoseok treated him with graciousness, kindness, and generosity. He was a fine king, Jimin wondered if he’d ever see him again. 

    Jimin snapped back to reality when Yoongi’s hand left his own.

    “I should gather firewood as we go, try and keep everything at a whisper from now on, any sound that we  _ can _ eliminate, we  _ should _ .” Yoongi whispered and Jimin simply nodded in response then began to gather small pebbles to surround the fire. 

    “Yoongi,” Jimin called in a whisper. Yoongi’s eyes blew wide open and searched around frantically as his ears perked up to find the threat. Jimin simply stood there, with arms full of small pebbles, a few slid out of his grasp as he fumbled to catch only one. “Will this do?” He asked in a whisper, Yoongi couldn’t help the breathy smile that graced his features before he nodded, causing Jimin to smile in turn. 

    It wasn’t long after, that they found their humble abode for the night, a small cave revealed itself through the thick of the bushes and caught Yoongi’s eye. Only moments later he was kneeling down to start the fire for the night, and just in time too. 

    “Should we expect to be attacked tonight?” Jimin asked before taking another bite of the bread that Hoseok had given to them for their journey. 

    “It’s highly unlikely since we’re so far from the center but yes, we should always expect an attack.” Yoongi responded.

    “Alright, I’ll take first watch.” Jimin offered but Yoongi was quick to refuse his selflessness. 

    “No, get some sleep. I can watch,” Yoongi asserted causing Jimin to furrow his brow.

    “Are you sure?” Jimin was questioning in his mind if Yoongi thought he was adequate to even take watch while the werewolf slept. Obviously he didn’t have heightened senses, nor combat training, nor any experience with vampires but he couldn’t just  _ not  _ help. He always needed to  _ feel  _ needed, ever since he was young, he felt uncomfortable if he was only a burden. Yoongi wouldn’t even have to travel across the Vampire region if it weren’t for Jimin. Yoongi would have never had to rescue him from the hunters, stop him from escaping, ask his king to let him leave for who knows how long just to take Jimin home, fight off vampires night and day to protect Jimin, and he wouldn’t have to take first watch if it weren’t for Jimin dragging innocent people into the bullshit that  _ he  _ got  _ himself _ into. Jimin must not have been subtle enough about the prolonged monologue in his mind, for Yoongi watched him intently. 

    “Jimin, you’re thinking too much. Get some rest,” Yoongi’s voice was softer now, as if he were aware of Jimin’s tendency to overreact. Jimin pauses for a whole minute before responding. 

     “Alright,” he sighed as he reluctantly laid down on the rocky surface of the cave floor, resting his head upon one of the round, plush pillows that Hoseok had given them. Yoongi let his intense gaze falter away from Jimin until his eyes turned to the cave opening while his back rested against the wall.

    This would be a long night for him. War does a lot to a werewolf’s body, considering the short range weapons and vicious nature of their enemies. Physical wounds healed, for Yoongi at least, after the second month of peace. However, Yoongi’s mind has yet to heal from the trauma of watching his brothers in arms die in by the bloodthirsty fangs of the neighboring region. Two years ago, the Vampires were looking to expand their territory into the Werewolf Kingdom, King Hoseok wouldn’t allow it. And that’s when the war began. 

    Yoongi had been Hoseok’s trusted right hand man from the beginning, so of course he was appointed Lord of their armies. He oversaw every strategy, every move the werewolf army took was approved by Yoongi, it was only logical to think that every life lost was his fault. Every once in a while, even now he’d simply cave under the relentless pressure of his own guilt, he’d break down weeping, curl in on himself, and remain frozen in this position for hours. Hoseok would often find him before he could finish recalling every mistake, every miscalculation, every misguided step, as every reason contributing to his own self loathing. Hoseok would take off his crown to symbolize that he wasn’t to deal with his duties as King until he saw fit again, he would kneel down beside his friend and hug him until Yoongi’s breathing became steady again. That’s when he would start speaking,

    “Yoongi, you saved so many lives, you brought so many back home safely, you did everything you could. You were such a strong leader, thank you for being there for me and our people when we needed you, I know it hurt, but you were the perfect warrior for the job.” He would continue to repeat kind words until Yoongi’s tears would finally stop falling. The guilt never left, he never stopped hating himself. He never stopped seeing the visions of mothers, husbands, wives, and children hating him for the orders he gave out that killed their beloved ones. But Hoseok wanted him to stop crying, so he did, he had to be strong for his friend. Little did he know, Hoseok didn’t care about the tears, he only wanted his friend to feel safe and happy again. When they were children, things were simpler, safer, happier. 

    And here Yoongi was, sitting in a cave, in the Vampire region, surrounded by the same enemies that ripped into his brothers on the battlefield. He knew he wouldn’t sleep on their journey, but he didn’t mind. Yoongi simply wanted Jimin to get home safely, without experiencing any of the trauma that haunted him even now. 

    Jimin stirred awake, it was hours before sunrise. Yoongi hadn’t made a noise to wake him so he was perplexed.

    “What’s wrong?” He asked as Jimin sat up slowly to meet his eyes. It looked as if he had seen a ghost, eyes blown wide open and mouth hanging slightly ajar. Suddenly, and seemingly without reason, Jimin furrowed his brow, recomposed himself and sat up a bit straighter.

    “It’s nothing, I can take watch now.” Jimin spoke with a weak façade of calm. His eyes still swam with a relentless fear of loss, while his hands shook just enough to draw Yoongi’s gaze. 

    “You had a nightmare,” Yoongi was never good at speaking his mind gently, usually this was appreciated by his king and best friend who was equally as straight forward. However, it seemed to startle Jimin.

    “It’s nothing, really.” Jimin persisted but so did Yoongi.

    “Why won’t you tell me?” Yoongi had stood up now, he was so used to Hoseok being there for him that he felt obligated to protect Jimin in the same way. He didn’t know what compelled him to the human in such a way from the moment he saved Jimin, but his instincts had yet to let him down when it came to relationships. His instincts liked Hoseok and hated everyone else and this was a smart call by Yoongi’s standards, but now his instincts drew him to Jimin. 

    “It’s not your burden to bear, you should get some rest, Hyung.” Jimin had already stood up and began throwing sticks into the fire.

    “No, I’ll be alright.” Yoongi understood that feeling all too well, so he let Jimin keep his troubles to himself until he felt comfortable enough to confide in the werewolf. But now Jimin looked all the more hurt.

    “Hyung, I can take watch. You won’t be strong enough if you don’t sleep.” Jimin ran his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit of his. Yoongi avoided Jimin’s gaze as he mumbled his response. 

    “I can’t sleep,” Yoongi didn’t plan on opening up to the other either. Maybe if they both simply suffer from their own inner battles, they could pull their own weight and be a good team. 

    “Hyung, really I-”

    “I can’t sleep here,” Yoongi tried to convey his point without revealing too much but this didn’t seem to convince the other who began to close the distance between them.

    “I swear I can, I won’t lose focus, I’ll listen really hard to make up for the…” he trailed off as he pointed from his own ear to Yoongi’s and finally it clicked in Yoongi’s mind. 

    “Jimin, I trust you, I know you can keep us safe it’s just…” He trailed off as well.

    “I’m not strong enough,” Jimin finished his sentence but he couldn’t have been more wrong.

    “No, that’s not-” It was beginning to become incredibly hard to maintain a whisper now. Yoongi didn’t want to say anything about the war, he didn’t want to worry Jimin, he didn’t want Jimin to worry about  _ him. _ But Yoongi was never good at  _ not  _ sharing his thoughts, in fact, in this moment, he couldn’t even look Jimin in the eye because he feared spilling everything. Every gruesome story, every memory this place brought back, every mistake he’s ever made, every reason he hated himself, every reason he needed to just get Jimin  _ home _ where he’d be  _ safe. _ “It has nothing to do with you Jimin, you’re not doing anything wrong.”

    “Then what’s wrong?” Jimin prodded, ignorant to the fierce storm building behind Yoongi’s eyes. Yoongi stared directly into the fire now, maybe if he watched the flames slowly eat the gathered branches, it could consume his every thought and calm him. Maybe somewhere in the fire was an answer he could recite to Jimin. 

    “If I sleep, I’ll have nightmares too.” Maybe these were the right words he was looking for in the pit of the fire, maybe Jimin would understand this way.

    “Oh! You’re like Taehyung,” Jimin announced as he sat down, leaning against the cave wall. This caused the werewolf’s ears to pull back while his brow furrowed, he didn’t understand where Jimin was going with this. 

    “What do you mean?” Yoongi made the mistake of finally looking Jimin in the eye. Jimin looked like he  _ knew,  _ he understood Yoongi in a way that Yoongi never consented to. It terrified the werewolf.

    “Taehyung can’t sleep if he doesn’t hug something, maybe you have nightmares if you don’t hug something.” Jimin prompted, his innocence almost calmed Yoongi, especially since he  _ wasn’t  _ talking about the war. Yoongi allowed a breathy smile to grow as he sighed.

    “I don’t think that’s it,” he shook his head but Jimin was persistent once again.

    “It’s worth a shot, worst case, it just doesn’t work.” He outstretched a hand to the werewolf, inviting him to sit down with him. Yoongi’s eyes shifted from Jimin’s face to his hand, there was a long pause. It was as if Yoongi didn’t feel this was nearly as simple as Jimin did. But as he said, it’s worth a shot. So Yoongi stepped closer and took Jimin’s hand as he sat down beside him. He let go of Jimin’s hand in favor of wrapping his arms around his waist as he forced his eyes shut. It didn’t mean anything, Jimin was just kind. He was just trying to help, and listening to his heartbeat, though it seems dangerously fast, maybe it was normal by human standards… listening to his dangerously fast heartbeat helped. Yoongi fell asleep here, peacefully. 

     It was sunrise when Jimin shook Yoongi awake from his peaceful slumber. Yoongi immediately grasped a dagger that rested at his hip and turned to the cave opening. His adrenaline had already spiked, his instincts placed himself between Jimin and the opening of the cave. His wide eyes fell on nothing but the sunrise. 

    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you it’s just… the sunrise is pretty.” If there was one thing that anyone could call beautiful in this cold, dead region, it was the sunrise, the only thing that couldn’t be corrupted by the evil of the vicious vampires. The orange sun was safely out of reach, coloring the surrounding clouds gentle shades of pink, orange, and even purple. The sky and the forest wasn’t as fortunate to be bright and healthy, creating a contrast between the gentle hues and the dull greys. Yoongi turned his gaze to meet the sun, which would provide protection from the vampires in the day. 

    “Yeah, you’re right,” Yoongi never smiled in the mornings, Hoseok had grown accustomed to this, but something came over him in this moment, creating a gummy smile and a warmth over his shoulders that couldn’t be from the embers of the fire that struggled to stay alight. 

    Jimin had already begun packing up his backpack again, he approached Yoongi with a loaf of bread in hand. He then ripped it in half and offered a piece to the werewolf who still watched the sunrise with a smile. Yoongi’s eyes shifted from the scenery, to the bread, to Jimin. He then nodded in thanks and took the bread as they set out on their quiet trek. 

    The silence between the two was comfortable, it even felt safe, however the silence surrounding them cause anxiousness in Yoongi, who strained his ears to find any sign of a potential threat. Jimin’s gaze would often stray from the path ahead to find Yoongi, he wanted to be quiet so Yoongi could listen for the vicious natives. However, Jimin could see the stress in the other’s features, he knew he could help, he knew he was good at calming a friend’s anxiety, but to do it without words was out of his own comfort zone. 

    Yoongi has caught his curious gaze and raised a brow urging the other to share his thoughts. 

    Jimin’s eyes widened for a moment in shock of being caught but he quickly calmed his facial features into a shy smile as he shook his head.

    Yoongi pouted, furrowing his brow and looked down for a moment as if thinking. Jimin watched his face intently, he was falling back into thought of whatever had him stressed just a moment ago, Jimin needed to act quickly to draw his attention away from his fears again. 

    Yoongi decided that if Jimin didn’t feel like sharing what was bothering him, he didn’t have to. He decided to allow his mind to wander off to the memories he had in forests like these. 

    The vibrant, healthy colors of the Werewolf Kingdom’s forest had been tainted by the demons that came with the vampire’s invasion. Hoseok never liked the leaders that stayed in their high and mighty chairs as their people died for his own protection, so he joined Yoongi on the front lines. Yoongi has taken it upon himself to protect Hoseok at all costs, not only as a friend but because of the imminent power vacuum that would occur if the king were to die. So Yoongi stayed close to his friend and distracted himself from the taste of blood on his fangs by finding his next victim. Every second his eyes wandered to his brothers, he’d see one die. There wasn’t a moment he regretted not intercepting and saving them. Yoongi’s mind began to sink deeper and deeper into his regret. If he were stronger, faster, more prepared, smarter, he could’ve saved all of them. If he hadn’t-

    A smaller hand slipped into his own, holding it in an apprehensive and gentle grip, ripping Yoongi away from his self deprecating thoughts. He looked to Jimin, who pretended to be distracted by the dead tree trunks as they walked. Yoongi could swear that the younger’s face had turned bright red, though he couldn’t judge, he could feel the heat in his cheeks rising to his ears as he curved his formerly limp hand to completely engulf Jimin’s smaller one. And again, Yoongi smiled in a place he would otherwise call hell. Somehow Jimin had the power to make any environment feel safe, even in the home of the enemies that killed his brothers. 

    It was relatively peaceful but this only made Jimin all the more antsy. Yoongi’s ears stayed perked up and ready to hear a problem but his face remained stoic and calm.

    “Vampires rarely attack during sunlight,” Yoongi’s voice was slightly hoarse from lack of use and it startled Jimin out of the silence.

    “What?” He responded dumbly, as the other had caught him off guard. 

    “You’re anxious, but your fear is misplaced. When night falls is when the vampires come out. Unless there’s a Demon of Light, but there are only two-hundred in the whole region so crossing paths with one is highly unlikely.” Yoongi explained thoughtfully.

    “A Demon of Light?” Jimin prompted as he studied the other’s face for any reaction to him saying the name. 

    “The Vampire King’s royal guards are enchanted to survive in sunlight, they have burns all over their body from the strain and they’re more bloodthirsty than the civilians.” 

   “So they’re not very pleasant?” Jimin mused in spite of the hair standing on end from his neck. Yoongi let out a bright but quiet laugh.

    “They’re not very pretty or well mannered, no.” The gummy smile across his face aroused a softer smile to form on Jimin’s face.

    They had been walking in a familiar, comfortable silence for hours on end before Jimin perked up again.

    “Yoongi, look!” He whispered and Yoongi immediately drew a throwing dagger, ready to attack first but there was nothing, nothing he could see. “There’s a river,” Jimin had already broken away from Yoongi’s side and ran to the rushing waters. Yoongi froze, his face paled. 

    “Jimin wait!!” He broke into a desperate sprint but Jimin had already become too far, he knew that he wouldn’t make it in time. He wanted to scream for Jimin to stop but if his voice ever rose above a whisper, they’d both be in much greater danger. He could only let it happen.

    Jimin ran to the waters with a smile of hope that pulled his eyes into crescents. And then he saw it. 

    The water that was once clear was tainted with blood, the water had thickened with the blood of many animals, and many humans. He slid to a stop as he gasped, but before he could scream, a hand muted his mouth and an arm wrapped around his waist, urgently guiding him so his back was to the river of blood. Yoongi had placed himself between Jimin and the river of blood. 

    “You’re ok, you’re ok. I’m here, calm down, you’re ok.” Yoongi whispered as Jimin sunk into his chest and breathed erratically as all his muscles shook from being so tense. He tried to relax into Yoongi, tried to allow Yoongi to calm him, but the sliver of a glance at the mangled face of a bunny had sewn itself into the deepest visions of his mind. The image burned itself into the inside of Jimin’s eyelids. Yoongi knew that Jimin wouldn’t scream now so he allowed his hand to fall to Jimin’s shoulders as he turned the other to face him. 

    “The- they’re all-” Jimin mumbled as he stared down at Yoongi’s chest instead of meeting his concerned gaze.

   “Look at me, Jimin, look at me.” Yoongi cupped Jimin’s face with one hand while the other still held him steady. Jimin’s eyes flickered up to finally meet Yoongi’s eyes and now was when all Yoongi’s nightmares came true. Jimin was crying, Yoongi failed to protect his innocence, his gentle mind, his fragile heart. 

    “Damn it, I’m so sorry,” Yoongi pulled the human closer and embraced him tightly to his chest.

    “They’re all dead,” Yoongi felt the words ghost across his chest rather that heard them.

    “I know, Jimin, I know,” He didn’t really know what to say that could calm the other so he simply held him while whispering sweet nothings into the crown of his hair. “Jimin, they won’t hurt you, I won’t let them. You’ll be ok,” finally he found words to say with some significance behind them.

    “Right, right, I’m sorry it’s just-“ Jimin hated this, he should get over it and keep moving, he was already the reason for Yoongi taking who knows how much of his time away from his home to get him home safely, the least he could would be to make Yoongi’s job easier. Right now Jimin was just holding him back.  _ Wake up you little bitch, get your shit together.  _ The thought kept repeating in his mind but he still couldn’t get the image out of his mind, his body froze and refused to relax even in Yoongi’s arms. 

     “it’s scary, I know. But you’re gonna be ok, I promise.” Yoongi repeated and Jimin tried to listen, he really did, but it was no use. Yoongi tried to remember what he focused on to calm his own mind when he saw terrible things… “Jimin are you listening to me?” He could feel Jimin’s nod under his chin. “Alright, I need you to focus ok? Close your eyes and think about a field, any field, just a healthy, beautiful field of grass and flowers.” 

     Jimin did as he was told, he closed his eyes and imagined the beautiful field, but Yoongi didn’t elaborate on the field preferably being peaceful. Jimin imagined the field he entered when he came to this realm. He remembered being chased, he remember the wolf that saved him by killing his own kind, and then he remembered meeting Yoongi. The adrenaline that accompanied the fear coursing through him as the wolf seemed to be ready to eat him as well, the confusion that accompanied the exponentially increased adrenaline and fear when a man’s hand touched him in place of a wolf’s paw. And finally the shock of seeing his face, his gentle features contrasted that of the vicious wolf he had been only a moment ago. Jimin just now realized… he killed his own kind, to save a stranger, a trespasser…

    “Why?” 

    “What?” Yoongi’s ears pulled back momentarily. 

    “Why did you kill those werewolves to save me? You didn’t even know me.” Jimin pulled away so he could analyze Yoongi’s reaction to his question. Yoongi’s brow furrowed as he racked his memories and intentions, his ears pulled back again as he looked down and away from Jimin’s piercing gaze. He wanted to be honest, always, even if the truth made both of them uncomfortable.

    “I was… drawn to you… I guess, I just- I needed to protect you, I don’t know why. Hoseok has always tried to convince me to listen to my instincts and honestly, this is my first time. I don’t like it, it’s scary, but I’ll still protect you. I don’t know why, I just need to.” Yoongi explained slowly, awkwardly, hopefully effectively. Jimin couldn’t hide the shock etched into every feature on his face. Yoongi knew that anything he said now would only make things more confusing or uncomfortable, so he kept quiet, overthinking every word he chose to say. He became angry with himself, he had one job and that was to protect Jimin, he failed. Then to make things worse Yoongi couldn’t even calm him down, what a fucking failure.

    “Thank you,” Jimin’s voice was quiet but it shattered the silence that suffocated Yoongi all the same. “I’ll try to protect you too,” His tears hadn’t dried but they had surely stopped, replaced with an expression of resilience. 

    “... Thank you,” Yoongi didn’t know what else to say in return but this seemed to do, for Jimin nodded with a fragile smile as he made to stand up, followed by the other. Yoongi still guided Jimin’s eyes away from the tainted river as they continued back to the path and while Jimin was shaken, he seemed to hold up alright for the rest of their time in the daylight. 

    Then the sun set, it wasn’t hard to find a cave for shelter that night but it was hard to get Jimin to fall asleep. 

    “Jimin, I’ll be right here, you’ll be safe.” Yoongi had already sat down by the fire while Jimin paced the ground in front of him.

    “No, no, I trust you it’s just… what if  _ I  _ took first watch tonight?” Jimin prompted and that’s where Yoongi’s inner battle started. He knew that the Vampire’s would become more aggressive as the travelled deeper into their territory. He wanted to just let Jimin sleep the whole night so there’d be no chance of Jimin having to fight off the demonic creatures but he couldn’t just  _ lie  _ to him.

    “Do you need to cuddle tonight?” Yoongi mused but Jimin paused and thought for a moment.

    “Yeah maybe that would help,” He responded thoughtfully, to Yoongi’s surprise. 

    “O-oh ok, well I guess then-“ Yoongi backed up until he could rest his back against the stone wall but before he could finish attempting to express his scattered thoughts, Jimin had already laid against his side and wrapped his arms around the others waist. Everything in Yoongi’s mind completely stopped yet went into chaos all at the same time.

    “Good night,” Jimin hummed as his head rested on Yoongi’s stomach and his eyes fluttered shut. 

    “Good night Jimin,” Yoongi whispered in return. 

    Hours had passed and Yoongi refused to move, his ass hurt but he refused to do anything that could wake Jimin, aside from running his fingers through the other’s soft hair. He was content with staying here, with his ass falling asleep and his fingers entangled in Jimin’s hair, but nothing this peaceful ever lasted with Yoongi’s luck. 

    Yoongi’s ears perked up at the sound of dead grass crunching, and then a distant crack that took him back to the all too familiar terror of the war. He heard wings flapping, it was quiet at first, but then it grew louder. 

  He knew they would come tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok SO y’all know I’ve been stuck on this chapter for who knows how long. WELL that was due to it being so long and to me getting writer’s block every two sentences. SOOOOO I fixed it by chopping the chapter in half and THAT means I had to rearrange the storyline flow but it’s all good and now I’M BACK HELL YEAHHHHHH  
> also y’all can follow me on insta so you can get updates on when I ~update~ @taeseyelashes I purple you, loves <3

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends, thank you for taking an interest in my work. This is my first ff so please give me plenty of constructive critisism!! I’d love to become much better as the story progresses. Let’s enjoy this journey together ^_^


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